The Hermits

1912 · Leopold Museum, Vienna

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Schiele attempted to explain the symbolism of the painting to Carl Reininghaus in the spring of 1912: "It is not a grey sky, but a world in mourning in which the two figures move. They have sprung up here by themselves, an organic extension of the earth. This whole world, together with the two figures, is supposed to represent the transitoriness of everything essential.

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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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