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EGON SCHIELE (1890-1918)
7
●
SECESSION 49. AUSSTELLUNG. 1918.
26
1
/
2
x20
3
/
4
inches, 67
1
/
4
x52
3
/
4
cm. Alb. Berger, Vienna.
Condition B+: minor loss in lower left corner; repaired tears at edges, some affecting image; water stains
and pin holes in corners and margins; unobtrusive horizontal fold. Mounted on Japan. Matted and framed.
Schiele was one of the meteoric talents of the Secession movement. Unlike the colorful and decorative
work of the early Secessionists, Schiele’s output was darker and more intense, highlighted by powerful,
erotic and figurative imagery. He can rightfully be considered one of the first Expressionists. As part
of the Secession’s 49th Exhibition, Schiele was granted an entire room to display the fifty of his works
that had been chosen. He also designed the exhibition poster itself. The resulting intimate scene of “a
group of like-minded people, quite content in each other’s company” (Schiele p. 198), has various
titles such as “Die Tafelrunde” and “Die Freunde,” which leaves its meaning open to interpretation.
But, as it was finished during the final year of the First World War, it is generally accepted to be “a
sentimental tribute to a disappearing world” (Denscher p. 59). The people around the table have been
identified as various artist friends of Schiele’s (who is seated at the top of the poster). The empty seat
opposite him is said to be intended for Gustav Klimt, who died about a month prior to the exhibition’s
opening. It was this exhibition that launched Schiele as an internationally important artist. Tragically,
Schiele died during the Spanish Flu pandemic later that year. MoMA 24.1957, Modern Poster p. 75,
Denscher p. 56, Weill p. 118, Maitres 1900 p. 185, Verfuhrungen p. 38.
[15,000/20,000]