Facts about Egon Schiele
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At age 21, Schiele began a controversial romantic relationship with his 13-year-old model Gertrude Schönová, whom he later depicted in numerous drawings that deepened his notoriety in Vienna.
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Arthur Roessler, an influential Viennese art critic, became Schiele's first major patron and supporter, championing his work despite widespread public condemnation of the artist's provocative imagery.
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Schiele's works were featured in the 1909 Kunstschau Wien exhibition when he was merely 19 years old, launching his career in Vienna's most prestigious contemporary art showcase.
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The Viennese artist's 1917 painting The Family depicted his own household arranged in tight, angular forms that became his final completed major work before his death in 1918.
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Schiele's raw, contorted poses and skeletal figures drew inspiration from medieval Austrian art and anatomical studies he conducted by observing his own body in mirrors.
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Schiele's 1911 painting Cardinal and Nun was created when the artist was just 20 years old and depicts two figures in an intimate embrace that scandalized Viennese society.
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Twenty-eight-year-old Schiele's artistic style evolved dramatically from academic training under Leopold Pötzelberger to radical Expressionism within just two years of independent work.
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During his brief career, Schiele produced approximately 3,000 artworks including paintings, drawings, and watercolors between 1908 and 1918.
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Egon Schiele died of influenza on October 31, 1918, at age 28, just three days after his pregnant wife Edith succumbed to the same illness.
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Schiele's 1910 self-portrait with raised arms sold for 40 million dollars at Christie's in 2010, making it one of the most expensive Austrian artworks ever auctioned.
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In 1912, Austrian artist Egon Schiele was imprisoned for 24 days in Sankt Pölten for creating allegedly obscene drawings.