Egon Schiele is 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 shadows for the Russians. At the beginning of the 20th century, everyone paid attention only to Paris, and what happened in Vienna, Copenhagen or Berlin did not interest anyone. Klimt became the first Austrian painter known in Russia. Egon was considered his successor, but his early death prevented Schiele from reaching the heights of his idol. Nevertheless, he left a very vivid mark on the art of the early 20th century.
Childhood
Egon's father, Adolf, worked on the railway and was responsible for the Tully station. 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, due to the deterioration of his father's health, the whole family moved to Vienna. Adolf's disease progressed, and a year later he died.
Relationship with parents
Until the end of his days, the artist Egon Schiele felt the influence of his father. In 1913, he wrote to his half-brother: “It is unlikely that anyone remembers my noble dad with the same sadness as I do. No one understands why I go to places where he was during his lifetime and where I can feel pain. That is precisely why there is so much sorrow in my painting. She continues to live in me! ”
Egon disliked his mother, because he believed that she had too little mourning for her father: “My mother is a strange woman ... She does not understand me and does not love me at all. If she loved and understood, she could at least sacrifice something for this. "
Youth
During his belated youth, Egon had strong feelings for Hertha, his younger sister. Of course, incest was not complete here. When the girl turned twelve, and he was sixteen, they left by train to Trieste, where they spent several nights in a double room of the hotel. Another time, the boy’s guardian even had to 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 art. There, he quickly moved into the category of problem students and was transferred to another academy of arts. At that time, the future artist turned 16 years old. A year later, he tracked down his idol Klimt and showed him several of his own drawings. “Do you think I have talent?” The young man asked. “Yes, even too much,” answered 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 placed a young man in the craft workshop, for which Egon completed several projects (women's shoes, men's clothing, drawings for postcards). In 1908, Schiele organized his first exhibition.
Studio Organization
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 undergoing puberty. Especially Egon Schiele loved to draw girls. A contemporary of the artist recalled: “His studio was flooded with them. Girls hid there from the police or bad parents, slept there, just hung around, washed, combed their hair, repaired shoes and clothes ... In general, they were like animals in a cage that suited them " Egon, who had already become an excellent artist, very often painted them. And most of the work was erotic content. At that time in Vienna there were a huge number of collectors and distributors of pornography, who happily bought Schiele's drawings. This significantly increased the artist's income.
Self portraits
In addition to young girls, Egon Schiele was passionate about his body and did many self-portraits. He impressed not only himself, but also those around him. One of his patrons and advocates, Arthur Roessler, described Egon as follows: “Even surrounded by famous people with extreme addictions, his unusual looks stood out strongly ... He had a supple, thin, tall body with long arms and narrow shoulders. Fingers were long too and were striking against the background of bony hands. His face was beardless, tanned and surrounded by naughty, dark, long hair. On the broad, angular forehead of Egon, horizontal lines were visible. The specific features of Schiele's face became noticeable with a serious or sad expression, which was caused by internal pain, causing the artist to cry from the inside. And his look, combined with a laconic conversational style (inserted aphorisms in speech), gave the impression of inner nobility. It was very convincing, because Egon behaved naturally and did not pretend to be someone else ”
False poverty and persecution mania
During this period of his life, Schiele tried to give the impression of extreme poverty. But his claims about his own poverty are contradicted not only by personal photographs, but also by contemporary stories. No one saw an artist walking in rags or having lunch in a public dining room.
Since 1910, Egon Schiele, whose paintings were constantly growing in price, began to suffer from a persecution mania. In one of the letters he mentioned: “How disgusting here! Everyone envy me and conspire against me. And the colleagues who once praised me look with malevolent glances. ”
Wally Neuzil
In 1911, Egon met Klimt's former mistress and model - Wally Neuzil, seventeen-year-old. She stayed with him and became his best model. The Viennese atmosphere bored the couple, and they decided to move to the small town of Krumau (Schiele had family ties there). But after some time, Egon and Wally had to change the situation due to the disapproval of local residents. The next refuge of the couple was the city of Neulengbach, which is a thirty-minute drive from Vienna. The artist's studio again became a haven for dysfunctional children.
Arrest
Egon Schiele, whose self-portrait is now worth more than a million dollars, continued to lead the same lifestyle as in Vienna. This caused only hostility among others, and in 1912 he was arrested. Police seized more than a hundred drawings that were recognized as pornographic, and Egon was charged with seduction and kidnapping. At the trial, these charges 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 only three days. The judge also decided to publicly burn one of Schiele's drawings. Egon was glad to get off so easily. When he was in prison, he wrote several of his self-portraits, signed with compassionate phrases: "to put an artist is a crime", "I feel not guilt, but only cleansing." Enemies believed that this incident would somehow affect Schiele and force her to change her lifestyle. In fact, imprisonment in no way affected 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 met with Hans Holtz - a dealer who actively sold paintings by Austrian artists. Their relationship was a constant struggle for prices. Egon demanded more and more fees for his work. In 1913, the artist wrote to the mother a boastful letter: “All beautiful and noble qualities were combined in me. I will become a kind of fruit, leaving behind me eternal life even after its decay. How glad you should be that you gave birth to me. ” The persecution mania, exhibitionism and narcissism Schiele were reflected in the emblem painted by him for his individual exhibition in Vienna (Arno Gallery). There he portrayed himself in the image of St. Sebastian.
Turning year
1915 was a turning point for Egon. He met two girls living opposite his studio. Adele and Edith were the daughters of a locksmith who owned the workshop. Schiele became very attached to both of them, but in the end decided to stay on Edith. The former model of the artist - Wally Neuvzil, was indifferently fired. The last meeting between Egon and Wally took place in the local cafe Eichberger, where the couple played billiards daily until that day. Schiele handed Nevzil a letter of proposal. His essence was as follows: despite the fact that he and Wally are no longer together, Egon wants to go with her every year on vacation without Edith every year. Nevzil naturally refused. She later became a nurse in the Red Cross and died in a military hospital of scarlet fever before Christmas 1917. Egon and Edith got married in June 1915. The girl's family was categorically against it. The mother of the artist by that time had already died.
Draft in the army
A few days after the wedding, Egon Schiele, whose photo is attached to the article, was drafted into the army. He survived the war quite easily. At first, Egon served in the department transporting Russian prisoners of war, and then became a clerk in one of the prison camps. In January 1917 he was transferred to Vienna to serve in the warehouse, which supplied tobacco, alcohol and food to the Austrian army. In a country where food prices were constantly rising, this 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 young generation. In this regard, the leadership 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 - an emblem in the style of the Last Supper with his portrait instead of Jesus Christ. Even in war conditions, this show was a real triumph, and Schiele received many orders for portraits. Moreover, the prices for his drawings were constantly growing. This allowed the spouses to move to a new home studio. But they did not have time to enjoy family happiness. In October 1918, pregnant Edith fell ill with the flu and died 10 days later. Egon devastated this loss, and he also slept with this disease. Schiele died three days after the death of his wife.