Plate I from Zeichnungen ("Drawings"), an important work devoted to the graphic work of Egon Schiele, published by the Richard Lanyi bookshop in Vienna in 1917 and printed by Max Jaffé in a limited edition of 400 numbered copies. Produced using the collotype process, this print reproduces with exceptional fidelity the nuances and nervousness of the original work.
The collotype reproduces the original 1917 work, executed in gouache, watercolor and black pencil on paper, now in the National Gallery in Prague (inv. K 17864). The model is Edith Harms, whom Schiele had married on June 17, 1915, and who became his principal model until their joint death from Spanish flu in October 1918. Seated in a relaxed yet intensely constructed pose, the young woman establishes direct eye contact with the viewer, a tension further underlined by the economy of line and deliberately empty background characteristic of Schiele's late language.
These formal elements reflect the artist's singular career path: trained at the Vienna Academy of Fine Arts, Schiele emancipated himself as early as 1909 from the influence of Gustav Klimt and the symbolist ornamentation of the Viennese Secession to develop a more stripped-down, incisive aesthetic, which became one of the most original expressions of Austrian art in the early 20th century. In 1917, at the height of his artistic maturity, he was invited to organize the 49th exhibition of the Vienna Secession, one year before his premature death.
The plates from the collection Zeichnungen occupy a special place in the reception of Schiele's work. Testifying to the early dissemination of his graphic art among the enthusiasts and collectors of his time, they are today precious documents for the history of Viennese art publishing.
Frame dimensions: 58x41.5cm
