Description
Still Life with Flowers is a 1911 oil painting by Egon Schiele: a tall spray of dark dried flowers and blue-black berries in front of a bright yellow wall, with a patterned cloth on a table below. The original is held by the National Gallery Prague under inventory number O 10118. 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: | Still Life with Flowers |
| Other titles: | German: Stillleben mit Blumen |
| Painter: | Egon Schiele (1890–1918) |
| Year: | 1911 |
| Original technique: | Oil and tempera on canvas |
| Style: | Expressionism |
| Location: | National Gallery Prague (inv. O 10118) |
| Our reproduction (width × height): | hand-painted oil on canvas, 6 sizes from 45 x 60 cm to 125 x 165 cm, or a made-to-measure size |
Still Life with Flowers – Egon Schiele
What does the painting show?
An upright canvas is filled by a tall spray of dark dried flowers with blue-black berries; the thin stems climb all the way to the top edge and almost touch the frame there. Behind them stands a wall of strong, even yellow – that yellow carries the whole picture. Below is a table with a cloth in a red and blue pattern, with orange discs and white and green blocks, all of it surrounded by olive green. There are no people and no room around the table: what is left is colour and plant.
Why do people love it?
Because it works like graphic design and is still a painting. The yellow field is so clean that the dark flowers in front of it carry right across a room, and the patterned cloth below adds just enough unrest to keep the work from turning into decoration. It is one of the few things Schiele made that brings light into a room instead of tension, which is why people choose it for a dining room, a kitchen or a hallway where a portrait would be too heavy. The upright format also means it fits a narrow wall between a door and a window.
Where does it sit among Schiele’s works?
Among Schiele’s still lifes and plant subjects, which he painted all his life. Related works in our selection are Stylized Flowers, Chrysanthemums, Still Life with Books and Small Tree in Late Autumn. Still Life with Flowers dates from 1911. 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 yellow wall: one large unbroken field that has to stay alive and hand-laid – smoothed too soon it looks like painted plaster, laid too thin and the underpainting shows through. The second is the thin stems, which have to be pulled in a single movement from the bottom up, because a corrected line loses its spring at once. The original is oil and tempera on canvas; our copy is oil on canvas, which gives the same depth in the dark flowers and the same full yellow. 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 picture stands upright, so it wants a wall that is taller than it is wide. Above a chest of drawers, a chest or a console in the entrance hall, 60 x 80 cm or 75 x 100 cm; beside a door, between two windows or on a narrow hallway wall, 45 x 60 cm; above a dining table or a low sideboard, 85 x 115 cm; on a larger clear living-room wall, 100 x 135 cm; in a stairwell or a room with a high ceiling, 125 x 165 cm. The big sizes are where the yellow field really tells, so choose one of those if you want the work to set the colour of the room. 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
What does Still Life with Flowers show?
A tall spray of dark dried flowers with blue-black berries in front of a bright yellow wall, and below it a table with a red and blue patterned cloth. There are no figures in it.
When did Schiele paint it?
In 1911, when he was 21. Schiele died in Vienna in 1918 at the age of 28.
Which colours dominate?
A strong yellow wall, almost black flowers with blue-black berries, the red and blue pattern of the cloth with its orange discs, and olive green around them.
Where is the original?
In the National Gallery Prague, under inventory number O 10118.
Is your version tempera too?
No. The original is oil and tempera on canvas; our hand-painted version is oil on canvas, which gives the same depth in the dark flowers and the same full yellow.
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.
