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Lot Essay
The year 1912 marked a particularly disruptive period in Schiele's life. Only the year previously, the artist had been forced to leave the village of Krumau, where he had hoped to settle into a new period of productivity. However, the villagers were distrustful of the new arrival. As Jane Kallir describes it: "The situation was brought to a climax one day when Schiele unwittingly took one of his models out into the garden to pose. He did not realise that, given the hillside architecture of Krumau, the nude girl could be observed from the above. Now the animosity against him acquired a specific focus, and Schiele, evicted from his quarters, was forced to move." (Op. cit., Kallir, p. 111).
In the summer of 1911, Schiele moved to the village of Neulengbach, about twenty miles from Vienna, where the present work was probably executed sometime in the winter or early spring of the year 1912. As before, Schiele employed children and pubescent girls, as well as his companion Valerie (Wally) Neuzil, for his nude studies. This again brought him into conflict with his bourgeois surroundings: "I have doubtless painted 'terrible' pictures" Schiele is said to have told his friend Roessler, "but do they believe I did it on purpose, to shock the bourgeoisie? This has never been the case. But there are specters which are brought about by longing, and I have painted such specters. Not because I enjoyed it - I just had to." (Op. cit., p. 123). That same April, Schiele was jailed on obscenity charges for 24 days. At his trial he was fined and one of his erotic drawings was burnt by the judge in symbolic condemnation.
In the summer of 1911, Schiele moved to the village of Neulengbach, about twenty miles from Vienna, where the present work was probably executed sometime in the winter or early spring of the year 1912. As before, Schiele employed children and pubescent girls, as well as his companion Valerie (Wally) Neuzil, for his nude studies. This again brought him into conflict with his bourgeois surroundings: "I have doubtless painted 'terrible' pictures" Schiele is said to have told his friend Roessler, "but do they believe I did it on purpose, to shock the bourgeoisie? This has never been the case. But there are specters which are brought about by longing, and I have painted such specters. Not because I enjoyed it - I just had to." (Op. cit., p. 123). That same April, Schiele was jailed on obscenity charges for 24 days. At his trial he was fined and one of his erotic drawings was burnt by the judge in symbolic condemnation.