Egon Schiele

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 Schiele: The Beginning will appeal not only to specialists and scholars, but to Schiele’s many fans as well.