Egon Schiele: Life and Work

Egon Schiele: Life and Work by Jane Kallir. hardcover edition. ISBN: 9780810946149.

Egon Schiele (1890-1918) was one of the most influential and popular painters to emerge from the cultural ferment that characterized Vienna at the turn of the century. Yet despite the appreciation of his art, the "real" Egon Schiele has remained elusive. This biography, first published together with Abrams catalogue raisonné of Schieles work, offers fascinating insights into the artists brief and sometimes troubled life. Basing her text chiefly on firsthand sources, many of them previously unpublished, Schiele expert Jane Kallir provides a vibrant account of the artists childhood and early adulthood, his turbulent encounters with Viennas patron class, his sexual escapades and imprisonment on a morals charge, his ultimately disappointing marriage, and his premature death at the age of 28. Interwoven with the story of the artists life is a balanced presentation of his art-the mature and relatively placid pieces together with the turbulent Expressionist work-lavishly illustrated with 94 full-color illustrations and 107 duotone plates. Printed on extra-fine paper with extraordinary reproductions, this beautiful volume stands as the definitive biography of Schiele the man and the artist.