Tulln 1890 - 1918 Vienna
Seated Nude, Front View
Black crayon on paper
42.5 x 20.3 cm
Kallir WV no. 2042
Study of two eyes and a nose on the reverse
Provenienz:
Private collection, Switzerland
Auction Gutekunst & Klipstein, Bern, 6 June 1957, sale 87, lot 655
Frank Perls, Beverly Hills
Felix Landau Gallery, Beverly Hills
Private collection, USA
Auction Sotheby’s, New York, 14 May 1986, sale 5455, lot 129
Private collection, USA
Private collection, Vienna
Literatur:
Jane Kallir, Egon Schiele: The Complete Works. Expanded edition, New York 1998, ill. p. 586, WV no. 2042
The adjoining depiction shows a seated woman viewed head-on, her gaze directed into the distance. With her right hand brought to her chin, her elbow rests on her bent right leg. The right-hand boot and left arm are only hinted at in the rendering. Schiele applies the black chalk with varied thickness and force, producing a convex arched outline that is typical of the period, and physicality and volume in his skilful placing of contours. The high artistic quality of the drawing can be particularly noted in the depiction of the face. The curly hair rendered in mannered lines flows into the base of the nose. With assured strokes, Schiele captures the chin and cheeks, while the lips and nostrils are curved delicately.
Works such as these, which are highly sought after on the international art market, show the outstanding talent of this ‘most brilliant draughtsman of all time’.1
1 Otto Benesch in: Rudolf Leopold, Egon Schiele. Gemälde. Aquarelle. Zeichnungen, Salzburg 1972, p. 8