SCHIELE EGON

Egon Schiele (1890-1918) - along with Oskar Kokoschka - is the painter whohad the most long-lasting influence on the Vienna art scene after thegreat era of Klimt came to a close. After a short flirtation with Klimt'sstyle, Schiele soon questioned the aesthetic orientation to the beautifulsurface of the Viennese Art Nouveau with his rough and not easilyaccessible paintings. Many contemporaries found his expressive nudes andself-portraits, with their strange movements and morbid colours, to beugly and even morally objectionable - criticism which culminated incriminalizing the painter as "obscene" and resulted in 1912 in anindictment and short jail sentence. However, not even his harshest criticscould dispute however the artist's extraordinary drawing talent.