Expressive nudes and self-portraits, strange movements and morbid colours
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Egon Schiele (1890-1918) - along with Oskar Kokoschka - is the painter who had the most long-lasting influence on the Vienna art scene after the great era of Klimt came to a close. After a short flirtation with Klimt€s style, Schiele soon questioned the aesthetic orientation to the beautiful surface of the Viennese Art Nouveau with his rough and not easily accessible paintings.
Many contemporaries found Schiele€s expressive nudes and self-portraits, with their strange movements and morbid colours, to be ugly and even morally objectionable--criticism which culminated in criminalizing the painter as €obscene€ and resulted in 1912 in an indictment and short jail sentence. However, not even his harshest critics could dispute the artist€s extraordinary drawing talent.
About the Series: Each book in TASCHEN€s Basic Art Series features:
- a detailed chronological summary of the life and oeuvre of the artist, covering his or her cultural and historical importance
- a concise biography
- approximately 100 colour illustrations with explanatory captions