Egon Schiele: Landscapes

by Rudolph Leopold

Now available in an attractive flexi-cover format, this visually stunning collection of landscape paintings and drawings by Egon Schiele brings to light a little-known aspect of this famous painter's oeuvre. Best known for his depictions of the human form, Schiele was also interested in portraying the beauty and structure of the world he inhabited. In fact, Schiele's paintings of the countryside and his native Vienna comprise a large portion of his body of work. Nearly one hundred of the artist's landscapes are exquisitely reproduced in this handsome book and presented alongside photographs of the scenes he depicted, taken from the vantage point of the original works. This volume proves that Schiele s mastery extends beyond his radical renditions of the human figure and reveals themes that appear throughout his work. Schiele's landscapes represent an important facet of his career and are a valuable contribution to the school of European nature painting.

Genres: Art

208 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2010

Reviews

[Mir · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good quality reproductions, if a bit small.

[Philippe · Rating 3 out of 5]

‚Beggars aren’t choosers’, so we should be happy with the only extant monograph on Schiele’s landscapes. Kimberly Smith’s Between Ruin and Renewal, published ten years ago by Yale University Press, is only available from antiquarian sources. Similarly, Jane Kallir’s Complete Works is out of print.

The present volume, from the hand of Schiele’s most important collector, was originally published as a hardback catalogue that accompanied a 2004 exhibition at the Leopold Museum in Vienna. This affordable reprint is smaller than the original and has a softcover. The color plates are modestly sized (on average 15x15 cm). Fortunately six double-page spreads give us a better feel for Schiele’s brushwork and his exquisite draughtsmanship.

The book’s key selling point is that it provides access to a significant body of work that is rarely included in other Schiele monographs. Nearly one hundred drawings and paintings are shown and this selection is by no means exhaustive. In addition to the well-known trees and sunflower canvases the majority of Schiele’s landscape work is devoted to cityscapes and studies of isolated buildings. In contrast to the expressionist nudes and portraits these landscapes don’t shock. The peculiar tension between stasis and movement, the compressed perspectives, tight and claustrophobic compositions, the subdued and earthy color palette and quasi total absence of human figures invite a mood of somber contemplation. This work seems to hover uneasily at the intersection of symbolism, Jugendstil and expressionism.

Sadly Leopold’s accompanying text is drily descriptive and provides no clue about how we might better understand this work against the background of contemporaneous trends in landscape painting. This is a major and sad shortcoming of this book.

Prestel published a companion volume on Gustav Klimt’s landscape paintings, authored by Stephan Koja (curator 19th-20th century art at the Belvedere Museum in Vienna) that is probably worth seeking out.

[Stephen · Rating 5 out of 5]

A unique collection of an area of Schiele's work that remains little noted. Absolutely beautiful reproductions with a concise, informative entry for each. Lovely.