Female Lovers

On this day in 1890 Egon Schiele, one of the major figurative painters of early 20th century was born. 

He is also one of the most important artist in terms of painting female nudes. Schiele lead a bohemian life in the early 20th century Viennese cafe culture inhabited by radical intellectuals who asked questions about sex, desire, death and the true nature of humanity. Sigmund Freud’s The Interpretation of Dreams had been recently published. Against this background Schiele looks to reveal the hypocrisy of the bourgeoisie and the reality of the human condition. The artist produced some of the most radical depictions of the human figure created in modern times – so radical that in 1912 he was imprisoned for two months for exhibiting his ‘offensive’ nudes.

Egon Schiele’s nudes can challenge us and our preconceptions of the artistic tradition of the “nude”. He didn’t paint or draw idealised goddesses. He preferred to present female and male genitalia in full light. Many of the female nudes reference pornographic images and include props such as stockings typically associated with prostitution. Schiele often used prostitutes as models but he also made nudes of his sister, lovers and wife. You can’t escape the palpable eroticism of his work, often truly explicit. This work comparing to some others can be described as "soft". If you would like to know more about Schiele nudes, you can read our article on DailyArtDaily magazine "The Pornographic World of Egon Schiele’s Nudes".

Until June 18th in Albertina Museum in Vienna you can see an comprehensive exhibition of 160 artworks by Egon Schiele that positions his radical oeuvre within an epoch characterised by a schism between the modernist and the traditional. A must see this season!

Dear users, we need your help to make DailyArt better and to create a new Android version - we need $20.000. Here is the link where you can find more information about our crowdfunding. Thank you <3