Self-Portrait
1911
Medium
Watercolor, gouache, and graphite on paper
Dimensions
20 1/4 x 13 3/4 in. (51.4 x 34.9 cm)
Classification
Drawings
Department
Modern and Contemporary Art
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Bequest of Scofield Thayer, 1982
Accession Number
1984.433.298ab
Tags
Art Historical Context
Egon Schiele'sSelf-Portrait* of 1911 is a example of early 20th-century Expressionism capturing the artist's raw introspection through a distorted, angular nude figure. At just 21 years old, Schiele had broken from his mentor Gustav Klimt's ornate style, embracing a jagged line and psychological intensity that defined Viennese Expressionism. Rendered in watercolor, gouache, and on paper—a medium Schiele favored for its immediacy and portability—this work measures 20¼ x 13¾ inches, allowing for an intimate scale that draws viewers into his vulnerable gaze. The piece exemplifies Schiele's obses...
About the Artist
Egon Schiele · 1890–1918
Egon Schiele (1890-1918) stands as one of the most provocative and psychologically penetrating artists of early twentieth-century European modernism. Born in Tulln an der Donau, Austria-Hungary, Schiele's brief but intensely productive life ended tragically at age twenty-eight when he and his pregnant wife Edith succumbed to the Spanish flu pandemic, mere days apart. Despite his truncated career, ...