Description
Town among Greenery (The Old City III) is a 1917 painting by Egon Schiele: a crowded cluster of houses with pale walls and brown, yellow, red and orange roofs climbs through the middle of the canvas, closed in by dense dark-green trees. We paint it by hand in oils at the size you choose, and before dispatch we send you a photograph of the finished painting for approval.
| Title: | Town among Greenery (The Old City III) |
| Other titles: | Stadt im Grünen · Die alte Stadt III |
| Painter: | Egon Schiele (1890–1918) |
| Year: | 1917, signed and dated lower left |
| Original size: | 110.7 cm x 140.1 cm |
| Original technique: | Oil on canvas |
| Style: | Expressionism |
| Location: | Neue Galerie, New York (acc. 2006.03) |
| Our reproduction: | hand-painted oil on canvas, 15 sizes from 43 x 35 cm to 205 x 164 cm, or a made-to-measure size |
Town among Greenery (The Old City III) – Egon Schiele
What does the painting show?
A small town seen from above, packed so tightly that the houses seem to climb over one another. Walls in white, cream, grey, lilac and pale green carry roofs in brown, yellow, red and orange; the windows are small squares outlined in blue, and chimneys stand up all over the roofs. Here and there tiny figures stand on the walls and paths between the houses. On both sides the town is closed in by dense trees in many greens, and along the top edge a narrow strip of pale sky runs above a green hill. In the lower left corner is Schiele’s signature with the date, set in a small yellow square.
Why do people love it?
Because there is always something more to find. The eye wanders from roof to roof, counts windows and chimneys, and keeps discovering small figures tucked between the houses. The pale, warm colours of the town sit like a bright patch in the middle of the dark green, so the picture reads clearly from across a room and still rewards a closer look. It shows a cheerful side of the Austrian painter: no tension between bodies, only a town and its trees, set down with visible, lively brushwork.
Where is it, and how did it get there?
The painting is now at the Neue Galerie in New York; it entered the museum as a bequest from the Estate of Marguerite Manley, in memory of Otto and Marguerite Manley.
Where does it sit among Schiele’s works?
If you like this painting, look also at House Wall (Windows), The Hermits and Cardinal and Nun (Caress). The whole selection is in our Egon Schiele gallery, and there is more about the painter’s life in our article about Egon Schiele.
How is our hand-painted version made?
One of our artists paints it by hand in oils, stroke by stroke and for your order alone: it is a hand-painted painting, not a print. On this subject the work lies in the detail and in keeping order: every window, chimney and roof edge is drawn in with the brush, and the many colours of the houses must stay distinct against the dark trees rather than merge into one grey mass. Our copy is oil on canvas, like the original. When it is finished we photograph it and send you the photograph for approval; only then does it ship. This work has not yet been photographed in our workshop, so for now this page shows no workshop photographs of it.
Which size for which wall?
We offer this painting in 15 sizes, from 43 x 35 cm to 205 x 164 cm. With so much detail, it rewards a generous size. Above a chest of drawers or a desk, 60 x 50 cm or 70 x 55 cm works; above a sofa or a bed, 100 x 80 cm or 130 x 105 cm, roughly two thirds of the width of the furniture. On a large wall, in a stairwell or in a room with a high ceiling, choose 160 x 128 cm or larger, where the windows and figures can still be read from a distance. A canvas painting this full of small shapes also works close up: in a hallway you can enjoy the details as you pass. Hang it with its centre at eye level, roughly 145–150 cm from the floor, or 15–25 cm above the backrest of a sofa.
Custom size, stretcher bar and frame
If none of the fifteen sizes suits your wall, we paint the work to your own measurement. If you choose YES under the Podokvir (stretcher bar) 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; seeing it on your wall is a separate service. The frame is chosen separately and need not be part of the order. With this subject a plain, narrow frame in dark wood or in a muted green holds the busy surface together, while a wide ornate frame adds even more to look at.
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. 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 work travels protectively packed. Every order is covered by our Returns and Refund Policy.
Frequently asked questions
Which town does Town among Greenery show?
No particular town can be named with certainty. According to the Neue Galerie, the scene is most likely an imagined, composite town based on Schiele’s studies of Krumau (today Český Krumlov) and its surroundings, his mother’s birthplace in Bohemia, which he visited repeatedly from 1910. He looks down on the houses from a high point, so the roofs seem to climb over one another.
Where is the original of Town among Greenery?
In the Neue Galerie in New York, under accession number 2006.03. It entered the museum in 2006 as a bequest from the Estate of Marguerite Manley, in memory of Otto and Marguerite Manley. The canvas measures 110.7 x 140.1 cm.
When did Schiele paint Town among Greenery?
In 1917; the signature and the date sit in a small yellow square in the lower left corner. It is one of his late landscapes, painted a year before his death in 1918.
Why are there people in Town among Greenery?
Tiny figures stand on the walls and paths between the houses, which is rare in Schiele’s landscapes. The Neue Galerie notes that, uncharacteristically, he populated the streets with figures immersed in daily life. In 2023 the painting received a grant from the TEFAF Museum Restoration Fund to stabilise its surface and to compare it with other late landscapes, to understand why he added figures to some of them.
What colours did Schiele use in Town among Greenery?
The walls are white, cream, grey, lilac and pale green, the roofs brown, yellow, red and orange, and the small windows are outlined in blue. All around, the dense trees are painted in many greens, and a narrow strip of pale sky runs along the top edge. The pale, warm town sits like a bright patch in the middle of the dark green.
Does it work as a gift?
Yes; if you are unsure which size to choose, there is a gift voucher.
