Egon Schiele

I have loved Egon Schiele for a very long time! I would like to share a few examples of his work and talk about what draws me to it.

Schiele was an Austrian artist (1890-1918) who was a protege of Gustave Klimt. In his very short life he produced a huge body of work, almost entirely consisting of figurative paintings and drawings.
 

Langhaariger Akt, vornubergebeugt, Ruckenansicht

Unlike Klimt, Schiele received very little recognition for his work in his lifetime. Critics found his expressionism unpalatable and many were unable to appreciate his unconventional style, seeing his distortions of the human form as ugly. He also was subject to much controversy due to his preocupation with eroticism and sexuality.

 I just can't get enough of the expressive edgy way that Schiele depicts the linear contours of the figure. I find the character of his lines totally compelling. He imbues each of his figures with unique and expressive personality and a kind of hard reality that I find fascinating. Looking at an image of one his drawings makes me want to pick up the nearest pen, pencil or piece of charcoal and scratch a closely observed figurative line right away! 

Schiele had the most extraordinary ability to not only accurately observe the contour lines of a human form but also to emphasise, distort or exaggerate just enough to express what I perceive to be his passion for the beauty of that line and his emotional response to it. In my opinion his ability to distort his lines so successfully arises from his capacity for intense, scrutinising and accurate observation.

Nude woman hair-dressing

For example, take a good look at the image above - both arms are distorted in different ways: the right is elongated, and in the left, which is foreshortened, he has exaggerated the contour outline of the form. Yet every bump, curve, corner and crevice has something true about it. Through exaggeration and distortion he is able to convey the very essence of the pose, the personality of his model and above all his emotional reaction to what he is observing. I have an almost visceral reaction to that gorgeous dark line that emphasises the underside of the left arm and love the overall shape of the arm as it wraps around to the back of the neck. What beauty in that long graceful curve into her right armpit!

When I draw from the life model I see these lines and feel the beauty in them - Schiele portrays this with every single mark he makes!

Seated Woman with bent knee