Egon Schiele: Living Landscapes

Exhibition at the Neue Galerie, New York, 17 October 2024 - 13 January 2025

Best known for his portraits, Egon Schiele (1890-1918) was also a talented landscape painter. From childhood, he was a keen observer of nature and, as an adult, he often sought to escape the pressures of Viennese life, finding solace in rural landscapes.

Plants, natural environments and urban landscapes determine the spaces Egon Schiele created in his paintings, and also reflect the rich symbolism he used, centred on the human condition. Plants are often endowed with allegorical significance, flowers and trees act as portrait subjects and have an almost human appearance. Schiele's landscapes always represent more than their apparent subject: his depiction of nature and his interpretation of towns and trees embody the cycle of life and the human condition.

This exhibition catalogue examines the importance of landscape in the work of the Expressionist artist and highlights the intimate relationship between landscape and portrait in his oeuvre.