Egon Schiele: Last Years 1914-1918

Egon Schiele: Last Years 1914-1918 offers a new study of the lesser-known later works of Egon Schiele and the effects of political upheaval on his artistic output.

The body of work by the eccentric artist Egon Schiele (1890-1918), created over a period of just ten years, is known above all through his major paintings and those drawings from between 1910 and around 1913/14. In these pieces, he processed his own emotional states and expressed the inner turmoil of an entire generation through his depictions of the human figure.

His later works after 1914 differ markedly from his earlier ones and are less well known. His lines became more measured, flowing, and organic, while his figures filled out and were more realistic. Upon reflection, the personal and historical changes and events from 1914—such as the outbreak of war, his marriage to Edith Harms (1893-1918), and the tedium of army life—clearly had a profound effect on his artistic output.

This volume gathers together an array of scholarly voices on these later works and includes previously unseen documents, including the personal diary of Edith Harms from this period, in which she recorded her experiences, thoughts, and feelings during these unprecedented times.