Female Nude on Her Stomach

Schiele loved nudes. In his twenty-eight years on earth, Egon Schiele produced some of the most radical depictions of the human figure in modern times. Through his highly expressive, utterly uncompromising portraiture, he shoved away the parameters of self-expression, procreation, sexuality, eroticism, and mortality — prevalent concerns in the socially and psychologically charged atmosphere of pre-war Vienna — in a breathtakingly original manner. Schiele's work was already daring, but it went a bold step further with the inclusion of Klimt's decorative eroticism and with what some may like to call figurative distortions, that included elongations, deformities, and sexual openness. But in spite of his famous claim that "erotic works of art are also sacred,” many of his explicit depictions were denounced as pornographic filth. 

In 1912, Schiele was even accused of seducing a minor — the runaway daughter of a naval officer who had been seen, along with a number of other children, lingering outside his studio. Although the main charge proved unfounded and was subsequently dropped, Schiele was forced to spend 24 days in jail for exhibiting erotic material where minors were present. While in prison, Schiele created a series of 12 paintings evoking the trauma and discomfort of being locked in a cell.