Description
Egon Schiele – Death and the Maiden, 1915
This hand-painted Egon Schiele painting, Death and the Maiden, is an oil reproduction of a work from 1915. The original is held at the Belvedere in Vienna.
The parting of lovers
The scene shows a man and a woman locked in an embrace: the woman clings to her lover with both arms, while he — in a dark, monk-like robe — stares into space. The male figure is read as a self-portrait of Schiele, the woman as Wally (Valerie) Neuzil, the artist’s long-standing companion and model. The work dates from 1915, the year Schiele married Edith Harms and ended his relationship with Wally; he painted their parting as “death”.
The composition
The figures kneel on a crumpled white sheet spread over an uneven, rocky ground. Their unstable poses give the scene a fragile balance that seems as though it could shatter at any moment; the dark robe and the white drapery stand in sharp contrast.
The original’s medium and format
The original is oil on canvas, measuring 150 × 180 cm (inv. 3171), signed and dated upper right “EGON SCHIELE 1915”.
Provenance and where it is
The Belvedere purchased the painting from the Munich Secession (Sezession, München) in 1930; it is now shown at the Upper Belvedere in Vienna.
Our hand-painted oil reproduction
Our reproduction is hand-painted in oil on canvas and painted in the size you choose.
