.jpg?w=1)
Lot Essay
Selbstbildnis mit erhobenem linken Arm und rotem Mund (Self-Portrait with raised left arm and red mouth) is one of a long series of exquisite self-portrait drawings that reflect Schiele's radical self-investigation of the human form as a physical mirror of the energy of the human soul.
Among the most profound formative influences on Schiele's art was the work of Van Gogh. Schiele, who shared Van Gogh's admiration for Oriental art and in particular, Japanese woodcut artists, saw in Van Gogh's work a deeply powerful graphic expression of the forces of nature through an intuitive distortion or exaggeration of the physical forms that they took in life. Inspired by Van Gogh's gnarled roots, grasping trees, bursting blossom, swirling clouds or spiralling cypresses, Schiele saw it as his mission to systematically explore the human body with the same attention given to an expression of its inner energy. Taking his cue from Gustav Klimt's use of the sexuality and the human form to express concepts like philosophy or music, Schiele sought to use the body as an outward articulation of an inner truth, as a tool through which he could articulate his own inner emotions, longings and desires.
Executed in 1909 when Schiele was only nineteen years of age, this self-portrait belongs to the first series of drawings in which Schiele systematically set about exploring the expressive potential of the body through an examination of his own self-image. Using his incisive and powerful line to its full effect, Schiele has, in this work, adopted an extraordinary pose in which his elongated features, long fingers and double-jointed arms graphically assert the living presence of the artist against an empty blank sheet of paper. In addition to this Schiele's facial features are contorted and he appears to be shouting, perhaps giving free range to his inner energy through a kind of primal scream. Echoing a work like Van Gogh's 1890 painting of almond tree blossom, the intense energy of Schiele's line fuses with the exaggerated form of his limbs and distorted face to create a uniquely animated image - a powerful image of the self as, in the most literal sense of the word, a Seer.
Among the most profound formative influences on Schiele's art was the work of Van Gogh. Schiele, who shared Van Gogh's admiration for Oriental art and in particular, Japanese woodcut artists, saw in Van Gogh's work a deeply powerful graphic expression of the forces of nature through an intuitive distortion or exaggeration of the physical forms that they took in life. Inspired by Van Gogh's gnarled roots, grasping trees, bursting blossom, swirling clouds or spiralling cypresses, Schiele saw it as his mission to systematically explore the human body with the same attention given to an expression of its inner energy. Taking his cue from Gustav Klimt's use of the sexuality and the human form to express concepts like philosophy or music, Schiele sought to use the body as an outward articulation of an inner truth, as a tool through which he could articulate his own inner emotions, longings and desires.
Executed in 1909 when Schiele was only nineteen years of age, this self-portrait belongs to the first series of drawings in which Schiele systematically set about exploring the expressive potential of the body through an examination of his own self-image. Using his incisive and powerful line to its full effect, Schiele has, in this work, adopted an extraordinary pose in which his elongated features, long fingers and double-jointed arms graphically assert the living presence of the artist against an empty blank sheet of paper. In addition to this Schiele's facial features are contorted and he appears to be shouting, perhaps giving free range to his inner energy through a kind of primal scream. Echoing a work like Van Gogh's 1890 painting of almond tree blossom, the intense energy of Schiele's line fuses with the exaggerated form of his limbs and distorted face to create a uniquely animated image - a powerful image of the self as, in the most literal sense of the word, a Seer.