{"id":119783,"date":"2025-09-04T16:56:08","date_gmt":"2025-09-04T16:56:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/119783\/"},"modified":"2025-09-04T16:56:08","modified_gmt":"2025-09-04T16:56:08","slug":"how-egon-schiele-made-enduring-art-from-his-troubled-life-and-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/119783\/","title":{"rendered":"How Egon Schiele Made Enduring Art from His Troubled Life and Times"},"content":{"rendered":"<\/p>\n

\u201cMay you live in inter\u00adest\u00ading times,\u201d goes the apoc\u00adryphal but nev\u00ader\u00adthe\u00adless much-invoked \u201cChi\u00adnese curse.\u201d Egon Schiele<\/a>, born in the Aus\u00adtria-Hun\u00adgary of 1890, cer\u00adtain\u00adly did live in inter\u00adest\u00ading times, and his work, as fea\u00adtured in the new Great Art Explained video above<\/a>, can look like the cre\u00adations of a cursed man. That\u2019s espe\u00adcial\u00adly true of those of his many self-por\u00adtraits that, as host James Payne puts it, ren\u00adder his own body \u201cmore ema\u00adci\u00adat\u00aded than it actu\u00adal\u00adly was, rad\u00adi\u00adcal\u00adly dis\u00adtort\u00aded and twist\u00aded, some\u00adtimes face\u00adless or limb\u00adless, some\u00adtimes in abject ter\u00adror.\u201d Here Schiele worked at \u201can inter\u00adsec\u00adtion of suf\u00adfer\u00ading and sex, as if he is dis\u00adgust\u00aded by his own body.\u201d<\/p>\n

Such a pre\u00adoc\u00adcu\u00adpa\u00adtion, as Payne sug\u00adgests, may not seem com\u00adplete\u00adly unrea\u00adson\u00adable in a man who wit\u00adnessed his own father\u2019s death from syphilis \u2014 caught from a pros\u00adti\u00adtute, on the night of his wed\u00adding to Schiele\u2019s moth\u00ader \u2014 when he was still in ado\u00adles\u00adcence.<\/p>\n

But what tends to occu\u00adpy most dis\u00adcus\u00adsions of Schiele\u2019s art is less his famil\u00adial or psy\u00adcho\u00adlog\u00adi\u00adcal back\u00adground than his line: the \u201cthin line between beau\u00adty and suf\u00adfer\u00ading\u201d that clear\u00adly obsessed him, yes, but also the line cre\u00adat\u00aded by the hand with which he drew and paint\u00aded. His art remains imme\u00addi\u00adate\u00adly rec\u00adog\u00adniz\u00adable today because \u201chis line has a par\u00adtic\u00adu\u00adlar rhythm: angu\u00adlar, tense, and eco\u00adnom\u00adi\u00adcal\u00adly placed. It\u2019s not just a means of describ\u00ading form; it\u2019s a voice.\u201d<\/p>\n

In this voice, Schiele com\u00adposed not like\u00adness\u00ades but \u201cpsy\u00adcho\u00adlog\u00adi\u00adcal por\u00adtraits, a search for the self or the ego, a pre\u00adoc\u00adcu\u00adpa\u00adtion of the time.\u201d The fig\u00adure of Sig\u00admund Freud<\/a> loomed large over fin-de-si\u00e8\u00adcle Vien\u00adna, of course, and into the twen\u00adti\u00adeth cen\u00adtu\u00adry, the city and its civ\u00adi\u00adliza\u00adtion were \u201ccaught between the old impe\u00adr\u00adi\u00adal order and mod\u00adern demo\u00adc\u00adra\u00adt\u00adic move\u00adments.\u201d A \u201clab\u00ado\u00adra\u00adto\u00adry for psy\u00adcho\u00adanaly\u00adsis, rad\u00adi\u00adcal art, music, and taboo-break\u00ading lit\u00ader\u00ada\u00adture,\u201d Vien\u00adna had also giv\u00aden rise to the career of Schiele\u2019s men\u00adtor Gus\u00adtav Klimt<\/a>. By the time Schiele hit his stride, he could express in his work \u201cnot just per\u00adson\u00adal dis\u00adcom\u00adfort, but the sick\u00adness and fragili\u00adty of an entire soci\u00adety\u201d \u2014 before he fell vic\u00adtim to the Span\u00adish flu pan\u00addem\u00adic of 1918 at just 28 years old, along with his wife and unborn child. In a sense, he was unlucky to live when and where he did. But as his art also reminds us, we don\u2019t mere\u00adly inhab\u00adit our time and place; we\u2019re cre\u00adat\u00aded by them.<\/p>\n

Relat\u00aded Con\u00adtent:<\/p>\n

New Dig\u00adi\u00adtal Archive Will Fea\u00adture the Com\u00adplete Works of Egon Schiele: Start with 419 Paint\u00adings, Draw\u00adings & Sculp\u00adtures<\/a><\/p>\n

How Art Gets Stolen: What Hap\u00adpened to Egon Schiele\u2019s Paint\u00ading Boats Mir\u00adrored in the Water After Its Theft by the Nazis<\/a><\/p>\n

The Life & Art of Gus\u00adtav Klimt: A Short Art His\u00adto\u00adry Les\u00adson on the Aus\u00adtri\u00adan Sym\u00adbol\u00adist Painter and His Work<\/a><\/p>\n

Gus\u00adtav Klimt\u2019s Icon\u00adic Paint\u00ading The Kiss: An Intro\u00adduc\u00adtion to Aus\u00adtri\u00adan Painter\u2019s Gold\u00aden, Erot\u00adic Mas\u00adter\u00adpiece (1908)<\/a><\/p>\n

Great Art Explained: Watch 15 Minute Intro\u00adduc\u00adtions to Great Works by Warhol, Rothko, Kahlo, Picas\u00adso & More<\/a><\/p>\n

Based in Seoul,\u00a0Col\u00adin<\/a>\u00a0M<\/a>a<\/a>rshall<\/a>\u00a0writes and broad\u00adcasts on cities, lan\u00adguage, and cul\u00adture. His projects include the Sub\u00adstack newslet\u00adter\u00a0Books on Cities<\/a>\u00a0and the book\u00a0The State\u00adless City: a Walk through 21st-Cen\u00adtu\u00adry Los Ange\u00adles.\u00a0Fol\u00adlow him on the social net\u00adwork for\u00admer\u00adly known as Twit\u00adter at\u00a0@colinm<\/a>a<\/a>rshall<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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