Egon Leo Adolf Ludwig Schiele (1890 – 1918) was an Austrian Expressionist painter. His work is noted for its intensity and its raw sexuality, and for the many self-portraits the artist produced, including nude self-portraits. The twisted body shapes and the expressive line that characterize Schiele’s paintings and drawings mark the artist as an early exponent of Expressionism. Gustav Klimt, a figurative painter of the early 20th century, was a mentor to Schiele.

One of the reasons that prompted me to acquire this book for review was that I had very narrowly missed the Egon Schiele exhibition that was held in Tokyo, which I was really looking forward to. Unfortunately, the animation project that I was working on before my original travel date to Japan was extended, and so I was not able to attend the exhibition in time.

I have been interested in Egon Schiele’s work since discovering that he was a former mentor of Gustav Klimt, an artist I highly adore. Klimt’s influence on his work is quite palpable, in particular his line-work and brilliant use of colors, but otherwise filtered through Egon’s own Expressionist perspective.

This art book is a miniature version of the grand but also much higher priced Complete Paintings edition. The print size is of course significantly smaller, but amount of art work collected still packs a punch.

Book Synopsis –

After Egon Schiele (1890–1918) freed himself from the shadow of his mentor and role model Gustav Klimt, he had just ten years to inscribe his signature style into the annals of modernity before the Spanish flu claimed his life. Being a child prodigy quite aware of his own genius and a passionate provocateur, this didn’t prove to be too big a challenge.

His haggard, overstretched figures, extreme depiction of sexuality and self-portraits, in which he staged himself with emaciated facial expressions bordering between brilliance and madness, had none of the decorative quality of Klimt’s hymns of love, sexuality and yearning devotion. Instead, Schiele’s work spoke of a brutal honesty, one that would upset and irreversibly change Viennese society.

Although his works were later defamed as “degenerate” and for a time were almost forgotten altogether, they influenced generations of artists―from Günter Brus and Francis Bacon to Tracey Emin. Today, his then misunderstood oeuvre continues to fetch exorbitant prices on the international art market.

This monograph, first published in an XL edition, is now available in a slightly abridged, more compact edition to celebrate TASCHEN’s 40th anniversary and features the paintings and drawings that retrace the fertile last decade of Schiele’s life. These works are accompanied by essays introducing his life and oeuvre, situating the Austrian master in the context of European Expressionism and charting his extraordinary legacy.

About the series –

TASCHEN is 40! Since we started our work as cultural archaeologists in 1980, TASCHEN has become synonymous with accessible publishing, helping bookworms around the world curate their own library of art, anthropology, and aphrodisia at an unbeatable price. Today we celebrate 40 years of incredible books by staying true to our company credo. The 40 series presents new editions of some of the stars of our program―now more compact, friendly in price, and still realized with the same commitment to impeccable production.

(image above) This particular self portrait piece was chosen as the poster for the Japanese exhibition that I missed.

I am really grateful to Taschen books for publishing this series of mini and relatively low-priced editions that allow me to enjoy and appreciate the work of these artists and painters. If you can afford the much bigger edition, I would certainly recommend it because the quality of the prints are just astoundingly good and well worth the price. That said, this smaller edition is excellent as well for the price point. Recommended.

Egon Schiele – The Paintings details :

– Dimensions – 8.86 x 1.69 x 6.5 inches
– hardcover, 512 pages
– Full color, in English

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