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Egon Schiele: Landscapes
This visually stunning collection of landscape paintings and drawings by Egon Schiele brings to light a little-known aspect of this famous painter's oeuvre, proving that his mastery extends beyond his radical renditions of the human figure and revealing themes that appeared throughout his life's work. While Schiele is largely revered for his provocative paintings of women, these works were just one aspect of his artistic expression. Schiele's landscapes represent an important facet of his career and are a valuable contribution to the school of European nature painting.
- GenresArtNonfictionArt History
206 pages, Hardcover
First published October 30, 2004
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
February 8, 2016
As often happens with me, my words fall short in describing why certain works of visual art so appeal to me. I suppose this has something to do with the limits of language and the sublime, but it also has to do with failings on my part of making the extended effort to connect immediate sensation and my reflections through words, which should be able to hold these impressions. I often escape the mundanity of my job at the National Archives by stealing an hour here and there and immersing myself in beloved rooms at the National Gallery (it is free, it is usually open, it is full of beautiful things and a shimmering quietness) - the Cezanne room, the Impressionists, the three different pieces they have of Monet’s Rouen Cathedral series, side-by-side in a gallery tucked away toward the back of the east wing of the main building, ripe for long looking and thinking of the minute changes daylight, weather, and time play on a specific place. Monet’s Woman with a Parasol whose whole being seems about to be dissolved in wind with her surroundings. The Rothkos that pulse and look back into me (though maybe for that reason specifically I don’t revisit them as often.) Turner’s waterscapes which are storm-wracked slumbers lit by an ancient light, obscured by the sun or moon’s distance from the events on the canvas, and the interference of elements unfolding upon the small world... In the center of a siren-bewailed city, where preened and suited careerists talk endless economic dystopian noise at the cafes, where gadgets chirp and adhere to numb faces, and the homeless suffer openly under all of it, I come here and am refreshed. I’m taken away. Often when I leave the gallery after even a short period of looking at paintings, the outside world has again accumulated a cheeriness, an aesthetic order, a hum of hope.
There are no Schieles on display at the National Gallery. I’ve seen his works elsewhere, but I can only revisit his work in books. Luckily, there are a number of beautiful, careful productions one can acquire, two of which I did recently at the National Gallery’s bookstore. His absurdly brief and talented life - a recounting of which can be found in the first half of this gorgeous book - was almost at all times steeped in troubles and controversy. Mentored by Klimt, (whose influence is probably the most evident in his works - the line, the coloring, the geometry strained out of any realism, the almost stained glass effect), Schiele was as a young man accused of incestuous tendencies, lost his father to syphillis when he was 15, entered the Akademie at 16, at 22 was put on trial for seducing an underage girl, then again on accusation of pornography when his studio was raided, he was briefly imprisoned. Eventually he married and three days after his wedding he was conscripted into WWI (where he was permitted to paint portraits of Russian officers during his service in Prague). When the Spanish flu epidemic reached Vienna, both Schiele and his pregnant wife died three days apart. He was 28.
This book is a collection of his landscapes, to my mind some of his most appealing work, despite being overshadowed by his famous nude grotesques and sickly self-portraits. Presented chronologically, one can see how startlingly talented Schiele was from the beginning of his career. At 16 he was already able to produce images such as these trees mirrored in water:
or this Cezanne-like landscape
The reproductions here are gorgeous, and each print is given context and minimal description, and many are even accompanied by photographs of the places Schiele painted.
Over time he matured into what is now recognized as signature Schiele, and one can identify the idiosyncratic style of his portraiture at work in how he sets down landscapes, buildings, towns, rivers - the deeply expressive line, twisting forms, a sense of perceptual displacement, flattened perspective, and highly stylized coloring, as I said before, often reminiscent of stained glass or mosaic.
One of my favorites, Woodland Prayer
But where I believe the most strangely beautiful and enigmatically appealing elements in Schiele come to be shown are in his paintings of trees and sky:
~~
There are no Schieles on display at the National Gallery. I’ve seen his works elsewhere, but I can only revisit his work in books. Luckily, there are a number of beautiful, careful productions one can acquire, two of which I did recently at the National Gallery’s bookstore. His absurdly brief and talented life - a recounting of which can be found in the first half of this gorgeous book - was almost at all times steeped in troubles and controversy. Mentored by Klimt, (whose influence is probably the most evident in his works - the line, the coloring, the geometry strained out of any realism, the almost stained glass effect), Schiele was as a young man accused of incestuous tendencies, lost his father to syphillis when he was 15, entered the Akademie at 16, at 22 was put on trial for seducing an underage girl, then again on accusation of pornography when his studio was raided, he was briefly imprisoned. Eventually he married and three days after his wedding he was conscripted into WWI (where he was permitted to paint portraits of Russian officers during his service in Prague). When the Spanish flu epidemic reached Vienna, both Schiele and his pregnant wife died three days apart. He was 28.
This book is a collection of his landscapes, to my mind some of his most appealing work, despite being overshadowed by his famous nude grotesques and sickly self-portraits. Presented chronologically, one can see how startlingly talented Schiele was from the beginning of his career. At 16 he was already able to produce images such as these trees mirrored in water:
or this Cezanne-like landscape
The reproductions here are gorgeous, and each print is given context and minimal description, and many are even accompanied by photographs of the places Schiele painted.
Over time he matured into what is now recognized as signature Schiele, and one can identify the idiosyncratic style of his portraiture at work in how he sets down landscapes, buildings, towns, rivers - the deeply expressive line, twisting forms, a sense of perceptual displacement, flattened perspective, and highly stylized coloring, as I said before, often reminiscent of stained glass or mosaic.
One of my favorites, Woodland Prayer
But where I believe the most strangely beautiful and enigmatically appealing elements in Schiele come to be shown are in his paintings of trees and sky:
~~
July 14, 2011
A wonderful book. Though known largely through his grotesque portraits, erotic drawings, and narcissistic self-portraits, the landscapes -- especially the trees and ruralscapes -- show a lyrical genius that is so moving. Schiele, it turns out, was a draughtsman of the first order.
The prints, which are beautiful, are accompanied by a sparse and insightful commentary. In many places, including the townscapes, Leopold found and photographed the precise motif that Schiele was painting -- which makes for some fascinating comparisons. In discussing Autumn Trees I (1911), he provides an old print, plus a newer one -- to show how the original has decayed (partially through a poor restoration). And much else. Sometimes he simply notes that "the longer one looks at this drawing", the more one gets it.... The total absence of any pretentious bullshit, so common in some of these art books, is quite refreshing...
My favorites, both as regards the paintings and as regards the commentary, however, are Schiele's Trees.
The prints, which are beautiful, are accompanied by a sparse and insightful commentary. In many places, including the townscapes, Leopold found and photographed the precise motif that Schiele was painting -- which makes for some fascinating comparisons. In discussing Autumn Trees I (1911), he provides an old print, plus a newer one -- to show how the original has decayed (partially through a poor restoration). And much else. Sometimes he simply notes that "the longer one looks at this drawing", the more one gets it.... The total absence of any pretentious bullshit, so common in some of these art books, is quite refreshing...
My favorites, both as regards the paintings and as regards the commentary, however, are Schiele's Trees.
September 9, 2019
great stuff here. especially nice to use in study against/alongside all his figures.
March 11, 2009
Another one i really love to have around. He is definitely more pattern orientated at describing environments than many artists. He does deal with dept, but in an abstract way, mainly using color to push back the distance.
His composition is incredible(in my opinion), and i really like his color choices, because they are unlike anything i would ever choose but work way better to me.
His stroke work is actually a little hard to figure out, but overall i think very enjoyable to a wide variety of artists.
His composition is incredible(in my opinion), and i really like his color choices, because they are unlike anything i would ever choose but work way better to me.
His stroke work is actually a little hard to figure out, but overall i think very enjoyable to a wide variety of artists.
June 8, 2017
It's nice to see the landscape work all under one book jacket. Schiele is known for the provocative portraits he did, but his landscape work is absolutely underrated. While the writing left much to be desired, the reproductions and choices on inclusion were top-notch. I wish someone would recognize how incredibly abstract his work is. I kept thinking some of the paintings of buildings wouldn't seem that out of place with Mondrian. The biography at the end was a welcome addition albeit cursory.
October 17, 2012
This book made me a devout fan of Egon's landscapes. Fantastic!
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews