Egon Schiele – Krumau at Night (Dead City II)

Krumau at Night (Dead City II) is a 1911 work by Egon Schiele: a night view of the town of Krumau, today Český Krumlov in the south of the Czech Republic. The original is not on canvas – the museum lists oil, body colour and pencil on wood – measures 29 x 37 cm and is signed and dated at the middle of the right edge, “EGON SCHIELE 1911”. It is held by the Leopold Museum in Vienna under inventory number RL 2386 and recorded as Viennese private ownership. 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.

Krumau at Night (Dead City II) – Egon Schiele

What does the painting show?

The town of Krumau at night. The title the Leopold Museum records names both the place and the hour: Krumau – the German name of Český Krumlov in the south of today’s Czech Republic – and night. The original is upright and very small, 29 cm wide and 37 cm high. The museum record carries no extended description, but it lists three materials on a wooden panel: oil, body colour and pencil, that is painting and drawing in one work. At the middle of the right edge stand the full name and the date, “EGON SCHIELE 1911” – one of the works he signed in full.

Why do people love it?

Because a town at night is a subject you can look at for a long time. The upright format helps where the wall is narrow – between two windows, beside a door, in a hallway – where a wide picture would have no room. People remember the title “Dead City”, and it is usually a visitor’s first question. And because it is hand-painted, the dark areas do not stay evenly black the way they do in a print: the paint is laid in layers, so there is still something to see inside the dark, and that is exactly what gives a night scene depth.

Where does it sit among Schiele’s works?

Among Schiele’s townscapes – a subject he came back to again and again, and, beside the figures, his best-known group of works. From the same period our selection has Mountain by the River of 1910, where landscape stands in place of houses. Krumau at Night was made in 1911; Schiele died in 1918, aged 28. 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 mix of materials: for the original the museum lists oil, body colour and pencil on wood, so the surface is not uniform – opaque paint in places, drawing in others. We paint all of it in oils on canvas, matching the look rather than the materials. The second is the night. If the dark tones are mixed in one go the picture turns into a flat area; so the painter builds the dark up in layers, to keep the town inside it readable. 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. This work has not yet been photographed in our workshop, so there are no workshop photographs of it on this page yet.

Which size for which wall?

For a narrow wall between two windows or beside a door, take 75 x 95 cm. The original is tiny, 29 cm wide and 37 cm high, so every size we offer is considerably larger. In a hallway or a narrow niche, 55 x 70 cm; above a desk or a chest of drawers, 75 x 95 cm or 90 x 115 cm; in the living room, above a sofa or a sideboard, 110 x 140 cm or 120 x 155 cm; on a tall wall or in a stairwell, 130 x 165 cm. Prices run from EUR 230 for the smallest to EUR 1,274 for the largest size. Hang it with the centre at eye level, about 145–150 cm from the floor.

Custom size, stretcher bar 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 Krumau?

Krumau is the German name of Český Krumlov in the south of today’s Czech Republic. The title the Leopold Museum records names that place explicitly and adds the hour: night.

What does the second title, Dead City II, mean?

The museum records the work under both titles at once – Krumau bei Nacht and, in quotation marks, „Tote Stadt“ II. We keep both, because that is what tells this canvas apart from Schiele’s other views of the same town.

Is the painting signed, and when was it made?

In 1911. At the middle of the right edge are the full name and the date: “EGON SCHIELE 1911”. Schiele was twenty-one at the time.

The original is on wood – what do I receive?

A hand-painted oil on canvas. We do not imitate the wooden panel or mix pencil into the paint: the painter reaches the same look in oils on canvas. There are six sizes, from 55 x 70 cm to 130 x 165 cm, or a made-to-measure size.

It is a night picture – will it work on a dark wall?

It shows best on a light or neutral wall, where the dark tones separate from the ground. On a dark wall, hang it where some light reaches it – a spot or the nearness of a window is enough. In poor light, choose a larger size instead, for example 110 x 140 cm.

Does it work as a gift?

Yes; if you are unsure which size to choose, there is a gift voucher.