Egon Schiele: The Leopold Collection, Vienna

by Rudolf Leopold

The Leopold Museum in Vienna is a Mecca for devotees of Egon Schiele as it houses the world's largest permanent collection of the artist's works. Comprising works from 1905 to 1918, the year of Schiele's death, this book features large-scale reproductions that allow readers to closely examine the artist's extraordinary use of line and colour. Presented chronologically, these works on paper are accompanied by insightful commentary. An introduction and biography of Schiele by Rudolf Leopold discuss the artist's influences, his controversial career, and his place in the pantheon of twentieth-century artists.

Genres: Art

280 pages, Hardcover

First published July 11, 2002

Reviews

[Mir]

Rudolf and Elizabeth Leopold have collected over 5,000 pieces of art from all over the world. This book reproduces just under 300 of them, primarily late 19th and 20th-century Austrian and German paintings and drawings.

You can tell reading Rudolf Leopold's introduction that he would've liked to make the book a couple thousand pages longer. I found his "BUY ALL THE ARTS!" attitude sympathetic. Many collectors seem very narrow and obsessive in their desire to have the best or most comprehensive collection of hand-carved Swabian fishing lures or nude self-portraits of women from Boston painted between 1880-1890. Of course, buying everything one likes is not financially feasible for most collectors, but it seems strange to me to select based on a larger category rather than choosing specific items one likes. But I'm not a collector. If I were crazy rich I would probably do as the Leopolds and buy whatever I wanted cycle it through my house while lending the rest to museums. I wouldn't buy so much Egon Schiele, though.

That's not a diss, Herr Leopold! Your collection is awesome and I will come see your museum as soon as I can.