Ann Valerie Hash: “It’s a revival, longing for freedom and freshness. This season is all about femininity, sophisticated voluptuousness, and softness.”
Having gone to the same art academy as Gustav Klimt, when Schiele graduated in 1909, he sought the older artist out as a mentor. Klimt would exchange or purchase Schiele’s work, as well as organise models and introduce him to influential people. Schiele’s career was a controversial one due to the pubescent girls who often featured in his sketches. They “lazily lounged about – something they were not allowed to do at home – combed their hair, pulled their dresses up or down, did up or undid their shoes,” according to his contemporary, the painter and writer Albert Paris von Gutersloh. Other than his depictions of young girls, Schiele also exhibited an abundance of self-portraits. His obscure and enigmatic line drawings are easily distinguishable and intriguing, creating a soft focus for the eye.
Text by Hollie Lacayo
