Artist Egon Schiele: pictures, biography

Egon Schiele - an outstanding artist and the best master of Austrian Art Nouveau. Unfortunately, in our country he is little known. And in general, Austrian art for a long time remained in the shadow for the Russians. In the early 20th century, everyone paid attention only to Paris, and what happened in Vienna, Copenhagen or Berlin - no one was interested. Klimt became the first Austrian painter known in Russia. Egon was considered his successor, but early death prevented Schiele from reaching the heights of his idol. Nevertheless, he left a very bright mark in the art of the early 20th century.

Childhood

Egon's father - Adolf, worked on the railway and was responsible for the station Tully. It was there that the future artist was born in 1890. There were no schools nearby, so Egon Schiele was sent to Krems. In 1904, because of the deteriorating health of his father, the whole family moved to Vienna. Adolf's disease progressed, and a year later he died.

Relations with parents

Until the end of his days, the artist Egon Schiele felt himself influenced by his father. In 1913 he wrote to his stepbrother: "Hardly anyone remembers my noble father with the same sorrow as I do. No one understands why I go to places where he was in his lifetime and where I can feel pain. That's why there is so much grief in my painting. She continues to live in me! "

Egon disliked his mother, because he believed that she was too little mourning for her father: "My mother is a strange woman ... She does not understand me and does not like at all. If I loved and understood, I could at least sacrifice something for this. "

Youth

During his belated youth, Egon experienced strong feelings for Herta - his younger sister. Of course, it was not without incest. When the girl turned twelve, and he was sixteen, they left by train to Trieste, where they spent several nights in the hotel's double room. Another time, the boy's guardian had to even break the door of the room to find out what his children were doing there.

Meeting with Klimt

In 1906, Egon Schiele, whose biography is known to all lovers of painting, entered the school of fine arts. There he quickly passed into the category of problem students and was transferred to another art academy. At that time, the future artist turned 16 years old. A year later he found his idol Klimt and showed him some of his own drawings. "Do you think I have talent?" Asked the young man. "Yes, even too much," replied Klimt, who liked to encourage young artists. He helped Egon by buying his drawings (or exchanging for his own) and recommending Schiele to his patrons. Klimt also arranged a young man in the workshop for which Egon carried out several projects (women's shoes, men's clothing, drawings for postcards). In 1908, Schiele organized his first exhibition.

Organization of the studio

After three years of study, the young man left the academy and organized his own studio. At that time, the main theme of his paintings were children who are experiencing puberty. Especially Egon Schiele liked to draw girls. The contemporary artist recalled: "Their studio was overrun by them, the girls hid there from the police or bad parents, spent the night, just hung around, washed, combed their hair, repaired shoes and clothes ... In general, they were like animals in a cage that suited them ". Egon, already an excellent artist, very often painted them. And most of the work was erotic content. At that time in Vienna was a huge number of collectors and distributors of pornography, who happily bought up Scheele's drawings. This significantly increased the artist's income.

Self-portraits

In addition to young girls, Egon Schiele was fascinated by his body and did many self-portraits. He impressed not only himself, but others. One of his patrons and defenders, Arthur Roessler, described Egon as follows: "Even in the midst of famous people with extreme attachments, his unusual looks were very prominent ... He had a supple, thin, tall body with long arms and narrow shoulders. The toes were also long and were conspicuous against the background of bony hands. The face was beardless, tanned and surrounded by disobedient, dark, long hair. On the broad, angular forehead of Egon, horizontal lines could be seen. Specific features of the face of Schiele became visible with a serious or sad expression, which was caused by internal pain, causing the artist to cry from the inside. And his view, combined with laconic conversational style (inserting aphorisms into speech), produced the impression of inner nobility. It was very convincing, because Egon behaved naturally and did not pretend to be someone else "

Fake poverty and persecution mania

During this period of his life, Schiele tried to make an impression of extreme poverty. But his statements about his own misery are contradicted not only by personal photos, but also by the stories of his contemporaries. No one saw an artist walking in rags or dining in a public canteen.

Since 1910, Egon Schiele, whose paintings constantly grew in value, began to suffer from the persecution mania. In one of the letters he mentioned: "How disgusting! Everyone envies me and conspires against me. And once my colleagues who praised me look gloating glances "

Wally Nevzil

In 1911, Egon met former lover and model Klimt - seventeen-year-old Wally Nevzil. She stayed with him and became his best model. The Vienna atmosphere bored the pair, and they decided to move to a small town of Krumau (there were family ties at Schiele). But after a while, Egon and Wally had to change the situation because of disapproval of local residents. The next haven of the pair was the city of Neulengbach, located thirty minutes from Vienna. The artist's studio once again became a haven for disadvantaged children.

Arrest

Egon Schiele, whose self-portrait stands now more than a million dollars, continued to lead the same lifestyle as in Vienna. The surrounding people caused this only hostility, and in 1912 he was arrested. The police seized more than a hundred drawings, which were found to be pornographic, and Egon was charged with seduction and kidnapping of children. At the trial, these accusations were rejected, but Schiele was found guilty of showing erotic pictures to children. Since the artist was imprisoned for 21 days, he was sentenced to just three days. Also, the judge decided to publicly burn one of the drawings of Schiele. Egon was glad to get away so easily. When he was in prison, he wrote several of his self-portraits, signed with pitiful phrases: "to plant an artist is a crime", "I feel not guilt, but only purification". The ill-wishers believed that this incident would somehow affect Sheila and make him change his way of life. In fact, imprisonment in prison did not affect either his character or his career.

Exhibitions in Cologne and Vienna

At the end of 1912, Egon was invited to an exhibition in Cologne. There he became acquainted with Hans Goltz, a dealer who actively sold paintings by Austrian artists. Their relationship was a constant struggle for prices. Egon demanded for his work all the big and big fees. In 1913 the artist wrote a boastful letter to his mother: "All beautiful and noble qualities were united in me. I will become a kind of fruit that left eternal life after itself even after its disintegration. How can you be happy that you gave birth to me. " Mania of persecution, exhibitionism and narcissism of Schiele were reflected in the emblem drawn by him for his individual exhibition in Vienna (Arno Gallery). There he portrayed himself in the image of Saint Sebastian.

Turning year

1915 was a turning point for the Egon. He met two girls living in front of his studio. Adele and Edith were the daughters of a locksmith who owned the workshop. He was very attached to both of them, but eventually decided to stop at Edith. The former model of the artist - Wally Nevzil, was indifferently dismissed. The last meeting between Egon and Wally took place at the local Eichberger café, where the couple played billiards daily until this day. Schiele handed Nevzil a letter with a proposal. His essence was this: despite the fact that he and Wally are no longer together, Egon wants to go with her every summer for a vacation without Edith. Nevzil naturally refused. Later, she became a nurse in the Red Cross and died in a military hospital for scarlet fever before Christmas 1917. Egon and Edith married in June 1915. The girl's family was categorically against it. The mother of the artist had already died by that time.

Conscription

A few days after the wedding, Egon Schiele, whose photo is attached to the article, was drafted into the army. He survived the war fairly easily. First, Egon served in the unit transporting Russian prisoners of war, and then became a clerk in one of the prison camps. In January 1917, he was transferred to Vienna for service in a warehouse that supplied tobacco, alcoholic beverages and food to the Austrian army. In a country where food prices were constantly growing, it was considered a privileged place.

Last years

The army service did not affect the popularity of Schiele. Everyone knew that he was the leading Austrian artist of the younger generation. In this regard, the management asked him to take part in the Stockholm exhibition to improve the image of the country in the Scandinavian states. And in 1918, Egon became the main participant at the Secession exhibition, where he presented his project - the emblem in the style of the Last Supper with his portrait instead of Jesus Christ. Even in the conditions of war, this show was a real triumph, and Schiele received many orders for portraits. And the prices for his drawings were constantly growing. This allowed the couple to move to a new house-studio. But they did not have time to enjoy family happiness. In October 1918, pregnant Edith became ill with the flu and 10 days later she died. Egona was devastated by this loss, and he too lay down with this illness. Schiele passed away three days after the death of his wife.