Description
Dead City VI (The Small Town I) is a 1912 painting by Egon Schiele: a cluster of old houses seen head-on and slightly from above, with a pale steep-gabled house left of centre, dark red roofs to the right and a small yellow house at the lower right. The original is held by the Kunsthaus Zürich under inventory number 1964/0001 and measures 80 x 80 cm. We paint it by hand in oils on canvas at the size you choose, and before dispatch we send you a photograph of the finished work for approval.
| Title: | Dead City VI (The Small Town I) |
| Other titles: | Tote Stadt VI (Die kleine Stadt I) |
| Painter: | Egon Schiele (1890–1918) |
| Year: | 1912 |
| Original size (width × height): | 80 cm x 80 cm |
| Original technique: | Oil on canvas |
| Style: | Expressionism |
| Location: | Kunsthaus Zürich (inv. 1964/0001) |
| Our reproduction: | hand-painted oil on canvas, 6 sizes from 45 x 45 cm to 140 x 140 cm or a made-to-measure size |
Dead City VI (The Small Town I) – Egon Schiele
What does the painting show?
The town is pressed into a square and we see it head-on, slightly from above, with no sky above the roofs. Left of centre stands a tall pale house with a steep gable and small windows framed in green; to the right run dark red and brown roofs with red window frames, and at the lower right a small yellow house crouches with blue and black windows. A pale band crosses the upper third, and beside it on the left stands a field of deep blue. Above all of it, black. No streets are visible, there are no people, the windows are many and all of them dark – the town appears as a dense wall of houses rather than a place you would walk through. At the lower right the painter signed it EGON SCHIELE 1912.
Why do people love it?
Because it is a town and a pattern at once. Roofs, gables and windows assemble into a mosaic of rectangles that holds the eye, and the colours are deep and warm: brick, ochre, yellow, dark blue and black. The square is a calm format and works where a long one would not. The painting is dark but not gloomy: the pale house at the centre and the yellow one at the lower right act as two lights. People choose it for a living room, a dining room or a study, often paired with a lighter work on the same wall.
Where does it sit among Schiele’s works?
In Schiele’s best-known group of works – the views of Krumau (Český Krumlov), his mother’s home town, which he painted again and again. Related works in our selection are Krumau at Night (Dead City II), The Small Town III, Krumau on the Vltava (The Small Town IV) and Crescent of Houses (The Small Town V). The full selection is in the Egon Schiele gallery, with more on his life in our article about Egon Schiele.
How is our hand-painted version made?
A painter works every canvas in oils, stroke by stroke: a hand-painted painting made for your order, not a machine print. Two things decide whether this one works. The first is the windows: they are small, rectangular and numerous, and if the painter makes them too soft or not exact enough the mosaic dissolves and the town loses its structure. The second is the paint layer – the original is densely, almost roughly painted, so our version keeps the brushstroke visible and is not smoothed out. Like the original, it is oil on canvas. When it is finished we photograph it and send you the photograph for approval, and only then does it ship. This work has not yet been painted and photographed in our workshop, so there are no workshop photographs of it on this page yet: the single photograph on the page shows the painting itself. What you receive is a canvas painting and a true oil painting reproduction: a Schiele reproduction painted by hand, a hand-painted copy of the original, and a painting for the living room that holds up close to.
Which size for which wall?
The original is square, 80 x 80 cm, and our 70 x 70 cm and 90 x 90 cm come closest to it – one a little smaller, one a little larger. A square belongs where the wall is taller than it is wide: above a chest of drawers, between two windows, in a stairwell, or on the wall beside a door. In a hallway or a smaller room, 45 x 45 cm and 60 x 60 cm; above a sideboard or a desk, 70 x 70 cm or 90 x 90 cm; in the living room above the sofa, 110 x 110 cm; on a large bare wall, 140 x 140 cm. Over a sofa the picture should be about two thirds as wide as the sofa, with its lower edge 25-30 cm above the back. Hang it with the centre at eye level, about 145-150 cm from the floor.
Custom size, stretcher and frame
If none of our sizes suits your wall, we paint the work to your own measurement. If you choose “YES” under the Stretcher option, the canvas comes stretched on a wooden stretcher bar, ready to hang. Our 3D application is for choosing a frame only, not for showing the work on your wall. The frame is chosen separately and need not be part of the order.
Delivery and guarantee
We paint to order and deliver to sixteen countries in the European Union, among them Slovenia, Croatia, Austria, Italy, Hungary, Germany and France; the United Kingdom and Ireland are not currently among them. The painting arrives protectively packed and, if you chose “YES” under Stretcher, stretched on the stretcher bar; before dispatch we send you a photograph of the finished work to approve. Production time depends on the size and on the studio’s workload. Every order is covered by our Returns and Refund Policy.
Frequently asked questions
Which town is this?
Krumau, today Český Krumlov in the Czech Republic – the home town of Schiele’s mother. He painted it several times; this work belongs to the series he called Dead City.
Where is the original and how big is it?
In the Kunsthaus Zürich, under inventory number 1964/0001. It measures 80 x 80 cm; our 70 x 70 cm and 90 x 90 cm come closest to it.
Are there people in the painting?
No. Only houses, roofs and dark windows – it is precisely the absence of people that gave Schiele the title Dead City.
Is it too dark for a living room?
Dark, yes; gloomy, no. The pale house at the centre and the yellow one at the lower right open it up. On a light wall it reads as calm, on a darker one as very rich.
How do I look after the painting?
Keep it out of direct sunlight and away from radiators and damp. Dust it with a dry soft brush; never use water or detergent on an oil on canvas.
Does it work as a gift?
Yes; if you are unsure which size to choose, or you do not know the wall, there is a gift voucher and the recipient picks the size.
Is this a print?
No. Every canvas is painted by hand in oils by a painter, for your order. We photograph the finished work and send you the photograph before it is dispatched.
