Egon Schiele: the Unsalvageable Ego

Expressionist Egon Schiele is one of the most popular artists of classic modernism. Schiele's spectacular life and early death as well as many of his works - especially the provocative nudes and seemingly pathological self portraits - have time and time again raised questions about parallels between life and work of the Austrian artist. But can such a narrow biographical focus really do Egon Schiele's art justice? This volume looks at Schiele in a different way. It discusses his oeuvre as a contribution to turn-of-the-century debates and discourse about cultural issues such as the crisis of the individual, which around 1900 was labelled with the phrase "the unsaveable I". For instance, Schiele's preoccupation with the occult can be understood as a direct response to this crisis. Some of the themes and issues which we find in Schiele's art can also be found in the literature of his time, while his nudes respond to contemporary attitudes towards sexuality. Exhibition: Städtische Galerie, Munich (3.11.2011-4.3.2012).