Description
Self-Portrait before a Red Background is an early work by Egon Schiele from 1906: the painter painted himself against a red ground. The original is oil on cardboard and very small – it measures 27.9 x 30.9 cm, so nearly a square. It is held by the Wien Museum in Vienna under inventory number 304940. 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: | Self-Portrait before a Red Background |
| Other titles: | the museum records it as Selbstbildnis vor rotem Hintergrund |
| Painter: | Egon Schiele (1890–1918) |
| Year: | 1906 |
| Original size (width × height): | 27.9 cm x 30.9 cm |
| Original technique: | Oil on cardboard |
| Style: | Early work |
| Location: | Wien Museum, Vienna (inv. 304940) |
| Our reproduction: | hand-painted oil on canvas, 6 sizes from 50 x 55 cm to 150 x 165 cm, or a made-to-measure size |
Self-Portrait before a Red Background – Egon Schiele
What does the painting show?
The artist himself, against a red ground – exactly what the title the Wien Museum records says. The museum record carries no description of the picture, so we add nothing that is not in it. This much is certain: the work dates from 1906, is painted in oils on cardboard, and is very small – 27.9 cm wide and 30.9 cm high, close to square. In 1906 Schiele came to Vienna to study at the Academy; born in 1890, he is sixteen in this picture.
Why do people love it?
Because this is Schiele at the beginning, at sixteen. Everyone knows how the story ends – the artist died at 28 – so a self-portrait from the first year carries a particular weight. The red ground gives the picture a force you feel from the doorway, and the face holds your attention once you step closer. The near-square format is rare and useful for that reason: it stands well on its own above a square cabinet or a low sideboard, and it makes an excellent centre for a gallery wall.
Where does it sit among Schiele’s works?
Among Schiele’s self-portraits and among his earliest works. 1906, the year of this picture, is also the year he came to Vienna to study and his uncle Leopold Czihaczek took him into his household – the same man as in the Portrait of Leopold Czihaczek (oil on canvas) and in Leopold Czihaczek at the Piano, both of 1907 and both in our selection. 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 face: 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 red, which has to stay a single colour without becoming an even sheet – laid on thick and all at once, it stiffens the face in front of it. 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 living room, 100 x 110 cm is the right choice. The original is tiny, 27.9 cm wide and 30.9 cm high, so every size we offer is very much larger. In a hallway, beside a door or in a gallery wall, 50 x 55 cm; above a cabinet, a low sideboard or a desk, 90 x 100 cm or 100 x 110 cm; as the main picture in a living room, 130 x 145 cm or 140 x 155 cm; on a large empty wall or in a tall room, 150 x 165 cm. Prices run from EUR 167 for the smallest to EUR 1,556 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 painting?
Egon Schiele himself. The title the Wien Museum records calls the work a self-portrait and names the ground: red. The museum record carries no fuller description.
How old was he?
Sixteen. The picture is from 1906 and Schiele was born in 1890. That year he came to Vienna to study at the Academy and moved in with his uncle Leopold Czihaczek.
What is the original, and where is it?
An oil on cardboard, very small: 27.9 cm wide and 30.9 cm high. It is held by the Wien Museum in Vienna under inventory number 304940.
The original is tiny – does the enlargement work?
It does, because the picture is not made by enlarging. The painter paints it afresh at the size you choose and scales the brushwork to the canvas, so the result is a painting and not a blown-up photograph. If you are unsure, take the middle size, 100 x 110 cm.
A near-square format – isn’t that awkward?
No, and it is often an advantage. A square picture stands well on its own above a square cabinet or a low sideboard, where a wide horizontal would overhang the edge, and it makes an excellent centre for a gallery wall.
Does it work as a gift?
Yes; if you are unsure which size to choose, there is a gift voucher.
