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Egon Schiele: The Beginning
Austrian painter Egon Schiele (1890–1918) is one of the most famous and recognizable twentieth-century artists, his work seen everywhere from museum walls to dorm room posters. This book is the first to focus on his early life and work, starting with his childhood in Tulln and following his career through his resignation from the Vienna Art Academy in 1909.
Through that period, we see Schiele begin to develop the distinctive brushstrokes, expressive lines, and underlying intensity that make his work so unforgettable. Essays by art historians shed light on the circumstances of Schiele’s childhood and the cultural, social, and family setting in which he began thinking about and making art. Beautiful, large-scale reproductions illustrate the evolution of his basic formal principles, and they help us understand his first creative phase, which reflected his dissatisfaction with the traditional styles that were then dominant. Other essays address his crucial friendship with Gustav Klimt and the various collections and collectors of Schiele’s early work. An enlightening new take on one of the most influential figurative painters, Egon The Beginning will appeal not only to specialists and scholars, but to Schiele’s many fans as well.
Through that period, we see Schiele begin to develop the distinctive brushstrokes, expressive lines, and underlying intensity that make his work so unforgettable. Essays by art historians shed light on the circumstances of Schiele’s childhood and the cultural, social, and family setting in which he began thinking about and making art. Beautiful, large-scale reproductions illustrate the evolution of his basic formal principles, and they help us understand his first creative phase, which reflected his dissatisfaction with the traditional styles that were then dominant. Other essays address his crucial friendship with Gustav Klimt and the various collections and collectors of Schiele’s early work. An enlightening new take on one of the most influential figurative painters, Egon The Beginning will appeal not only to specialists and scholars, but to Schiele’s many fans as well.
- GenresArt
244 pages, Hardcover
First published March 1, 2013
12 people want to read
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January 11, 2025
This book tells and shows the reader almost all there is to know about the youth of Egon Schiele, from his ancestry until the completion of his student years in 1910. The book is split in three parts: the first part contains studies and (over-)interpretations of his youth works; the second is a catalogue with great reproductions of much of those works, the third is a painstakingly detailed and nicely documented biography.
In the first part, the authors try to force a view on Schiele as rather a symbolist then an expressionist, using their interpretations of the young works as proof. But does the fact that for instance in one portrait of her, his mother has her eyes closed, really have a meaning? Or was she just reading a book, knitting or pealing potatoes? Or must a landscape, mirrored in water really mean an opening to another dimension? A person portrayed twice on the same sheet a sign of ambiguity? I tend to doubt all this and that these over-interpretations come from scholars who have no practical field experience as artists. Sometimes a stain is just a stain. I do agree though, that Schiele is a symbolist, but he's an expressionist in similar measures.
The second part has good reproductions of drawings and paintings and a sketchbook that was never published before.
The third part was the most fun, pointing out the smallest facts of Schiele's early life and mini-biographies of people who knew him, where possible provided with photo's and other imagery, like a love letter to his first crush, Margarete Partonek, at age 16. His relationship with his sisters is probably a bit underexposed.
Text is in German and English.
In the first part, the authors try to force a view on Schiele as rather a symbolist then an expressionist, using their interpretations of the young works as proof. But does the fact that for instance in one portrait of her, his mother has her eyes closed, really have a meaning? Or was she just reading a book, knitting or pealing potatoes? Or must a landscape, mirrored in water really mean an opening to another dimension? A person portrayed twice on the same sheet a sign of ambiguity? I tend to doubt all this and that these over-interpretations come from scholars who have no practical field experience as artists. Sometimes a stain is just a stain. I do agree though, that Schiele is a symbolist, but he's an expressionist in similar measures.
The second part has good reproductions of drawings and paintings and a sketchbook that was never published before.
The third part was the most fun, pointing out the smallest facts of Schiele's early life and mini-biographies of people who knew him, where possible provided with photo's and other imagery, like a love letter to his first crush, Margarete Partonek, at age 16. His relationship with his sisters is probably a bit underexposed.
Text is in German and English.
Displaying 1 of 1 review