Description
Portrait of Leopold Czihaczek (oil on canvas) is a 1907 work by Egon Schiele: an upright portrait of his uncle and guardian Leopold Czihaczek, in whose Vienna household the artist lived as a student. The original is oil on canvas, measures 29 x 47 cm and is signed and dated lower right, “Schiele Mai 07”. It is held by the Leopold Museum in Vienna under inventory number LM 8236, where it came as a gift. 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: | Portrait of Leopold Czihaczek (oil on canvas) |
| Other titles: | the museum records it as Bildnis Leopold Czihaczek |
| Painter: | Egon Schiele (1890–1918) |
| Year: | 1907 |
| Original size (width × height): | 29 cm x 47 cm |
| Original technique: | Oil on canvas |
| Style: | Early work |
| Location: | Leopold Museum, Vienna (inv. LM 8236) |
| Our reproduction: | hand-painted oil on canvas, 6 sizes from 40 x 65 cm to 105 x 170 cm, or a made-to-measure size |
Portrait of Leopold Czihaczek (oil on canvas) – Egon Schiele
What does the painting show?
One person: Leopold Czihaczek, Schiele’s uncle and guardian. The work is upright and, at the scale of the original, small – 29 cm wide and 47 cm high – painted in oils on canvas in May 1907. The museum record is about the man rather than the picture: who he was and what he meant to the young Schiele. A description that is not in the record is not one we add. The signature and date are lower right: “Schiele Mai 07”. We name the technique in the title because there is a second, different Czihaczek portrait on our shelf.
Why do people love it?
Because there is a real story behind this portrait. According to the museum record, after the early death of Schiele’s father Adolf (1850–1905) Czihaczek took on co-guardianship of Egon and his younger sister Gertrude (1894–1981), wanted an engineer’s training for him in the family tradition and did not approve of the artistic career – yet took the young painter into his household in 1906 when he came to Vienna to study. So the portrait shows not only a face but a relationship. And because it is upright and narrow, it is one of the few pictures that fit a narrow wall or the space between two doors.
Where does it sit among Schiele’s works?
Among Schiele’s early works. The museum notes that during his student years at the Vienna Academy, between 1906 and 1909, he made several portraits of his uncle; one of them is Leopold Czihaczek at the Piano from the same year, 1907, which we also offer and which shows the same man making music. Schiele died in 1918 aged 28, so this is a work from his first years. 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 likeness: in a portrait the eye notices at once if the distance between the eyes or the width of the mouth is even slightly off, so the painter sets the proportions of the head first and only then builds the colour. The second is the enlargement. The original measures only 29 x 47 cm and our smallest size is 40 x 65 cm, so every stroke in the face grows with the picture – and a stroke that was barely visible in the original has to stay a stroke, not a patch, at 105 x 170 cm. 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 in an entrance hall or between two doors, take 55 x 90 cm. The original is small, 29 cm wide and 47 cm high, so every size we offer is larger. In a hallway, a stairwell or beside a door, 40 x 65 cm and 55 x 90 cm; above a desk or a chest of drawers, 70 x 115 cm; in a living room or bedroom, 80 x 130 cm or 95 x 155 cm; on a tall wall in a room with a high ceiling, 105 x 170 cm. Prices run from EUR 136 for the smallest to EUR 936 for the largest size. With a portrait, hang it so the sitter’s eyes are at about the viewer’s eye level.
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
Who is in the picture?
Leopold Czihaczek, Schiele’s uncle and guardian. According to the museum record he was, like Schiele’s father, a senior railway official, and after the father’s death in 1905 he took on co-guardianship of Egon and his sister Gertrude.
Why did Schiele paint his uncle so often?
Because he lived with him. The museum records that Czihaczek took the young artist into his household in 1906, when he came to Vienna to study at the Academy, and that Schiele made several portraits of his uncle during his student years between 1906 and 1909.
Is this the same as your other Czihaczek portrait?
No. This one is oil on canvas, upright, with an original of 29 x 47 cm – which is why we name the technique in the title. Two others are on the shelf: the Portrait of Leopold Czihaczek in tempera on cardboard, and Leopold Czihaczek at the Piano, which shows him playing, in a wide horizontal format.
When was it made, and is it signed?
In May 1907. Lower right are the signature and the date: “Schiele Mai 07”. That is the same month as Leopold Czihaczek at the Piano, which is dated 12 May 1907.
Which size suits a narrow wall?
55 x 90 cm is the safest choice for an entrance hall, a corridor or a band of wall between two doors. If the wall is over two metres and empty, 80 x 130 cm works; with a high ceiling, 95 x 155 cm or 105 x 170 cm.
Does it work as a gift?
Yes; if you are unsure which size to choose, there is a gift voucher.
