Egon Schiele
Front: Seated lady in profile facing left, in a blue dress – On the reverse: Female half-nude (hand, abdomen and thigh)
Artist
Egon Schiele
1890 Tulln/Donau - Wien 1918
Further information
Kallir D 190 u. D 553a.
Ausstellung (Auswahl):
Egon Schiele: vom Schüler zum Meister, Akademie der bildenden Künste, Wien u.a. 1984-1988, Kat.-Nr. 13 (teilweise Kat.-Nr. 5);
Egon Schiele, Pinacoteca Capitolina, Rom/Museo d’Arte Moderna Ca’ Pesaro, Venedig 1984, Kat.-Nr. 43;
Egon Schiele: 100 Zeichnungen und Aquarelle, Städtische Galerie, Rosenheim, Florenz u.a. 1988-1994, Kat.-Nr. 7 (teilweise Kat.-Nr. 6);
Egon Schiele, Fondation Pierre Gianadda, Martigny 1995, Kat.-Nr. 47;
Hommage à Serge Sabarsky. Klimt. Kokoschka. Schiele. Aquarelle und Zeichnungen, Jahrhunderthalle Hoechst, Frankfurt 1997, Kat.-Nr. 55;
Kunstforeningen (Gammel Strand), Kopenhagen 2002;
Städtische Museen, Heilbronn 2006;
MAN Museum d’Arte Provincia di Nuoro, Nuoro 2007/08.
Ausstellung (Auswahl):
Egon Schiele: vom Schüler zum Meister, Akademie der bildenden Künste, Wien u.a. 1984-1988, Kat.-Nr. 13 (teilweise Kat.-Nr. 5);
Egon Schiele, Pinacoteca Capitolina, Rom/Museo d’Arte Moderna Ca’ Pesaro, Venedig 1984, Kat.-Nr. 43;
Egon Schiele: 100 Zeichnungen und Aquarelle, Städtische Galerie, Rosenheim, Florenz u.a. 1988-1994, Kat.-Nr. 7 (teilweise Kat.-Nr. 6);
Egon Schiele, Fondation Pierre Gianadda, Martigny 1995, Kat.-Nr. 47;
Hommage à Serge Sabarsky. Klimt. Kokoschka. Schiele. Aquarelle und Zeichnungen, Jahrhunderthalle Hoechst, Frankfurt 1997, Kat.-Nr. 55;
Kunstforeningen (Gammel Strand), Kopenhagen 2002;
Städtische Museen, Heilbronn 2006;
MAN Museum d’Arte Provincia di Nuoro, Nuoro 2007/08.
Provenance
Artist’s estate, stamped lower right;
Anton Peschka Jr. (1914–1997), Vienna;
Collection/Estate of Serge Sabarsky, New York, acquired from the aforementioned in 1983;
Collection/Vally Sabarsky Foundation, New York.
Anton Peschka Jr. (1914–1997), Vienna;
Collection/Estate of Serge Sabarsky, New York, acquired from the aforementioned in 1983;
Collection/Vally Sabarsky Foundation, New York.
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Description
• Study for the lost painting "Portrait of a Lady in Profile" (Kallir P 109)
• Innovative use of the picture frame as a space for action
• From the renowned collection of Serge Sabarsky
What she is doing there, Egon Schiele may have revealed to us in the painting "Portrait of a Lady in Profile". The painting remains lost; the preparatory sketch leaves us to guess – and to fantasise. There sits a lady, using the picture frame as a window frame, into which she has casually settled … and, well, what exactly? Perhaps she is reading, catching up on the daily news or enjoying a novel, or educating herself with a scholarly publication? Perhaps she is engaged in some handicraft, darning socks, embroidering, sewing? Reading peas? Going through the household accounts, calculating, measuring, making tough decisions? It will remain a matter of speculation. Whilst Schiele shows us in his drawing how brilliantly he can turn picture frames into frames of action, the actual intended action remains hidden from us. Perhaps what is happening here remains hidden even in the finished painting, and perhaps it doesn’t matter. Perhaps the seated figure is a canvas for our imaginations, inviting our interpretations and our own narrative creativity. And perhaps, just perhaps, she is doing something unheard of, something we all do far too little: simply doing nothing.
• Innovative use of the picture frame as a space for action
• From the renowned collection of Serge Sabarsky
What she is doing there, Egon Schiele may have revealed to us in the painting "Portrait of a Lady in Profile". The painting remains lost; the preparatory sketch leaves us to guess – and to fantasise. There sits a lady, using the picture frame as a window frame, into which she has casually settled … and, well, what exactly? Perhaps she is reading, catching up on the daily news or enjoying a novel, or educating herself with a scholarly publication? Perhaps she is engaged in some handicraft, darning socks, embroidering, sewing? Reading peas? Going through the household accounts, calculating, measuring, making tough decisions? It will remain a matter of speculation. Whilst Schiele shows us in his drawing how brilliantly he can turn picture frames into frames of action, the actual intended action remains hidden from us. Perhaps what is happening here remains hidden even in the finished painting, and perhaps it doesn’t matter. Perhaps the seated figure is a canvas for our imaginations, inviting our interpretations and our own narrative creativity. And perhaps, just perhaps, she is doing something unheard of, something we all do far too little: simply doing nothing.