Description
Double Portrait of Heinrich and Otto Benesch is a 1913 oil painting by Egon Schiele: two men shown full length against a pale mottled ground, the younger looking out at the viewer, the older reaching one arm across his shoulder. The original is held by the Lentos Art Museum, Linz, under inventory number 12 and measures 130 x 121 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: | Double Portrait of Heinrich and Otto Benesch |
| Other titles: | German: Doppelbildnis Heinrich und Otto Benesch |
| Painter: | Egon Schiele (1890–1918) |
| Year: | 1913 |
| Original size (width × height): | 130 x 121 cm |
| Original technique: | Oil on canvas |
| Style: | Expressionism |
| Location: | Lentos Art Museum, Linz (inv. 12) |
| Our reproduction: | hand-painted oil on canvas, 6 sizes from 60 x 55 cm to 160 x 150 cm, or a made-to-measure size |
Double Portrait of Heinrich and Otto Benesch – Egon Schiele
What does the painting show?
On a nearly square canvas two men stand full length against a pale, mottled ground, with no room and no furniture around them. At the left is the younger man in a long grey-brown coat, his hands clasped low in front of him; he looks straight out of the picture. At the right the older man stands in profile, with a moustache, reaching one arm across the younger man’s shoulder – the only gesture in the whole painting, and it carries the entire story. Both are fully clothed. The colours stay restrained: the grey-brown coat, the pale ground, a few darker accents in the hands and faces.
Why do people love it?
Because this is a Schiele everybody understands. A great deal of his work is difficult or explicit; this one shows a plain human moment – a hand resting on a younger person’s shoulder. You read it at once, with no knowledge of the artist at all. As painting it is still unmistakably Schiele: the hands are drawn and bony, the ground is alive and uneven, the figures are slightly stretched. The restrained colours mean the work fits a study, a living room or an entrance hall without shouting down the room, and the nearly square format makes it useful on walls where an upright portrait would look narrow.
Where does it sit among Schiele’s works?
Among Schiele’s portraits, one of the largest parts of his output. Related works in our selection are The Hermits, Portrait of Arthur Roessler, Portrait of Eduard Kosmack and Portrait of Paris von Gütersloh. The double portrait dates from 1913. 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 are hard here. The first is the hands. Schiele’s hands are drawn, bony and unusually long; paint them prettier than they are and the character of the picture goes, so we carry them over exactly as they stand in the original. The second is the pale mottled ground. It looks simple, but it is built from many close tones; lay it in one flat colour and it turns into wall paint, and the figures lose the space they are standing in. Like the original, our copy is oil on canvas. When it is finished we photograph it and send you the photograph for approval, and only then does it ship. We have not yet painted or photographed this work in our workshop, so the only photograph on this page is of the original and there are no workshop photographs yet.
Which size for which wall?
The original is 130 cm wide and 121 cm high, and of our sizes 130 x 120 cm comes closest to it. For a study, a living room or an entrance hall, 115 x 105 cm or 130 x 120 cm; above a chest of drawers or a desk, 70 x 65 cm; in a smaller room or on a narrow wall, 60 x 55 cm; on a large clear wall or in a gallery-style room, 160 x 150 cm. Because the format is almost square it wants a wall about as wide as it is tall – it sits better above low, wide furniture than above something tall and narrow. With figures at close to life size the picture gains from three or four steps of distance. 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, 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; 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
Who is in the picture?
Two men shown full length: the title names them as Heinrich and Otto Benesch. The younger stands at the left with his hands clasped, looking at the viewer; the older stands at the right in profile, with a moustache, resting an arm across his shoulder. Both are fully clothed.
When did Schiele paint it?
In 1913. Schiele died in Vienna in 1918 at the age of 28, so this belongs to the work of his middle years.
Is it a nude?
No. Both figures are fully clothed, and the younger man wears a long grey-brown coat. The work can therefore hang without hesitation in a shared space, an office or an entrance hall.
Which colours dominate?
Grey-brown clothing against a pale, mottled ground, with darker accents in the hands and faces. The palette is restrained and sits well with wood and a white wall.
Where is the original?
In the Lentos Art Museum, Linz, under inventory number 12.
Does it work as a gift?
Yes; if you are unsure which size to choose, there is a gift voucher.
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.
How do I look after it?
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 painting.
