Lot Essay
Peschka studied alongside Egon Schiele at the Akademie in Viena. In 1909 he was among the 15 founding members of Schiele's Neukunstgruppe, who were later forced to leave the school after disagreements with their professor. That same year Schiele portrayed Peschka in Portrait of the painter Anton Peschka, which sold in London in 2001 for 7.7million. Peschka married Schiele's sister Gertrude in 1914 and remained a close friend of the artist thoughout his short life.