Cherchez la femme - Drawings by Schiele and Matisse
EGON SCHIELE (1890 Tulln - 1918 Vienna)
Left: Woman lying, gouache, black pen / paper, signed and dated, 1917
Right: Woman's head, black pen / paper, signed and dated, 1918
When Egon Schiele returned to Vienna in 1917 after a two-year absence, he gradually became the leading figure in the local art scene, especially after the death of Gustav Klimt in February 1918. His marriage in 1915 to Edith Harms and experience in military service during the First World War had matured the artist. The less brutal and expressionist style that characterised Schiele's work now made him a sought-after portrait painter, who now felt a certain sensitivity towards his models. Two of his models, which rarely presented themselves to the artist in complete nudity, were his wife Edith and her sister Adele, who presumably had modeled on the two drawings on hand. The question as to which artistic heights Schiele would have been able to achieve by the already brilliant creative mind will unfortunately remain unanswered because of his early death in 1918.
HENRI MATISSE (1869 Cateau-Cambrésis - 1954 Nice)
Left: Nu, pencil / paper, signed and dated, 1930
Right: Buste dans l'atelier, pencil / paper, signed with initials, 1928
Both unadultered and suggested nudity are confronted in these two drawings by Henri Matisse. The drawing from 1928 shows us a glimpse and view of his studio in Nice, where he lived, worked and enjoyed the warm climate from 1917. On a three-legged stool in front of the half-open balcony door is the sculpture of a female torso.
All works will be featured in Dorotheum's Modern Art auction on 21st November. See more here.
Inside and outside
MARIA LASSNIG (1919 Kappel - 2014 Vienna)
Left: "Inside and outside the screen I", oil / canvas, 1984/85
Right: "Inside and outside the screen II", oil / canvas, 1984/85
In the painting pair Inside and Outside the Canvas, the Austrian painter Maria Lassnig presented herself with an usual intense self-reflection - it literally permeates the theme of being your own model. The areas in front of and behind the screen merge into a whole, the barrier of the image carrier becomes a narrative level. The paintings are part of the series of body images that Maria Lassnig painted for almost forty years at that time. In these self portraits she expresses her emotions through individual colors.
MARTIN KIPPENBERGER (1953 Dortmund - 1997 Vienna)
Left: Without title, oil / canvas, monogrammed and dated, 1996
Right: Self-portrait as Thomas Mann, Oil / Lwd.
From the 1980s, the egg became a central motif in the oeuvre of the artist Martin Kippenberger. The egg, with its simple form exerted on him a fascination, which has an enormous complexity under its inconspicuous surface - out of seemingly nothing great things can arise. The present egg is the top view of a dinosaur ice cream that was inspired by a picture in National Geographic magazine. Kippenberger, who at the time of the painting was already suffering from cancer which sadly lead to his passing following year, has to a certain extent portrayed himself with the dinosaur fetus and thus expressed his need for security. As an antipole to the security of the ice, Kippenberger juxtaposes it with a lantern, another recurring symbol of his oeuvre, the godfather of uncertainty and alcoholism, but also the happiness of restless nightlife.
All works will be featured in Dorotheum's Contemporary Art auction on 22nd November. See more here.