Self-Portrait with Chinese Lantern Plant

1912 · Leopold Museum, Vienna

portrait

The 1912 Self-Portrait with Chinese Lantern Plant is one of Egon Schiele's most famous works, which shows the artist at the height of his artistic prowess. A balanced composition with nothing left to chance, each line has found its continuation or a corresponding counterpart: hair and body mirror each other, trimmed at the horizontal edges of the image, with these dark sections balanced by the bright red-coloured lantern fruits. In a further show of balance, Schiele's head is turned to the right, with his gaze fixed directly toward the observer.

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About the Artist

Egon Schiele

1890 – 1918

Austrian painter, draughtsman and printmaker. He is, with Oskar Kokoschka (1886-1980), one of the major figures of Austrian Expressionism, despite the brevity of his artistic career, which lasted only about ten years. While remaining faithful to the initial influences on his work of the Vienna Secession, and in particular of the art of Gustav Klimt, he developed a personal and expressive style. He introduced psychologically and sexually intense subject matter that was radical in its subjectivity and highly influential on later generations of artists. His distinctly personal style made him one of the most important representatives of early Viennese Expressionism. His oeuvre includes landscapes, portraits, and above all, nudes, which were considered scandalous in his day.

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