Minneapolis Institute of Art

Lesende

Egon Schiele

Date

1909

Medium

Graphite on pale brown paper

Department

European Art

Institution

Minneapolis Institute of Art

Egon Schiele created many drawings with highly charged sexual imagery, but much of his output is full of tenderness. He made this delicate drawing while lodging with Johann Gierlinger, a blacksmith living just outside Vienna, Austria. Gierlinger’s daughter, Mitzi, recalled that Schiele drew her many times as they sat in the courtyard of the house. This and several other surviving drawings show her wearing her hair up, as was the fashion. In some places Schiele’s line is absolutely confident, like the back of Mitzi’s neck and back, and in others it looks searching, tentative, retraced, as in her hair. Mitzi might seem to be peacefully lost in her thoughts, but the clawlike grip of her firmly drawn fingers may communicate some tension. Europe

The authoritative record is held by Minneapolis Institute of Art. LinkedCulture surfaces this object and its connections; it does not alter institutional metadata.