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Lot Essay
The year 1917, when Bildnis (Junger Mann, Kopf) was executed, was exceptionally productive for Schiele. In January the artist had moved from Mähling to Vienna to take up a post in the city's Imperial-Royal Military Supply Depot. Notwithstanding this wartime employment, Schiele—who had painted and drawn relatively infrequently over the course of the preceding years—now turned his attention to the development of his artistic career with renewed vigor. The publication of a folio of reproductions—which sold out—and his participation in a number of group exhibitions during the year, meant that Schiele's work was becoming known to an ever-widening audience.
The same year also witnessed a stylistic shift that had already begun to manifest itself. This was a shift from the tense, febrile and angular lines that had formerly characterized his work to a concern with achieving a greater sense of realism and plasticity. This is here evident in the undulating lines and softly rounded forms of the figure in Bildnis (Junger Mann, Kopf), which are rendered in black Conté crayon producing a thicker and more even line than that of pencil. Indeed, as Jane Kallir has observed, "in terms of pure technical mastery, Schiele reached the height of his powers in 1917-1918. Linear perfection and painterly grace were balanced harmoniously" (Egon Schiele: Drawings and Watercolours, London, 2004, p. 448).
This portrait has been identified to possibly be either Karl Grünwald or Hans Rosé, but most likely of Heinrich Wagner. Many of the portraits Schiele produced at this time, were commissioned by friends and family of the artist, but also members of the Kunsthalle project or Schiele’s connections at the Supply Depot.
Karl Mayländer (1872 – Deported in 1941) was a textile merchant and philanthropist, however he is today perhaps better remembered as an art collector and amateur art critic. Especially interested in the work of young Austrian artists, Mayländer was particularly fascinated by Egon Schiele, eventually acquiring at least 18 works by the artist. It is not known when Mayländer and Schiele were first introduced but in 1917 the artist depicted the collector at least twice. In 1928, alongside memorial exhibitions organized by art galleries and museums to mark the tenth anniversary of Schiele’s death, Mayländer arranged his own exhibition to bring Schiele’s works to a wider public.
Following Nazi Germany’s annexation of Austria in March 1938, Mayländer, as a prominent Jewish businessman, was an immediate target of the Nazi party. He was deported to the Litzmannstadt Ghetto in October 1941. The Ghetto was closed in August 1944 and all prisoners transferred to Auschwitz. The date of Karl Mayländer’s death is not known.
The same year also witnessed a stylistic shift that had already begun to manifest itself. This was a shift from the tense, febrile and angular lines that had formerly characterized his work to a concern with achieving a greater sense of realism and plasticity. This is here evident in the undulating lines and softly rounded forms of the figure in Bildnis (Junger Mann, Kopf), which are rendered in black Conté crayon producing a thicker and more even line than that of pencil. Indeed, as Jane Kallir has observed, "in terms of pure technical mastery, Schiele reached the height of his powers in 1917-1918. Linear perfection and painterly grace were balanced harmoniously" (Egon Schiele: Drawings and Watercolours, London, 2004, p. 448).
This portrait has been identified to possibly be either Karl Grünwald or Hans Rosé, but most likely of Heinrich Wagner. Many of the portraits Schiele produced at this time, were commissioned by friends and family of the artist, but also members of the Kunsthalle project or Schiele’s connections at the Supply Depot.
Karl Mayländer (1872 – Deported in 1941) was a textile merchant and philanthropist, however he is today perhaps better remembered as an art collector and amateur art critic. Especially interested in the work of young Austrian artists, Mayländer was particularly fascinated by Egon Schiele, eventually acquiring at least 18 works by the artist. It is not known when Mayländer and Schiele were first introduced but in 1917 the artist depicted the collector at least twice. In 1928, alongside memorial exhibitions organized by art galleries and museums to mark the tenth anniversary of Schiele’s death, Mayländer arranged his own exhibition to bring Schiele’s works to a wider public.
Following Nazi Germany’s annexation of Austria in March 1938, Mayländer, as a prominent Jewish businessman, was an immediate target of the Nazi party. He was deported to the Litzmannstadt Ghetto in October 1941. The Ghetto was closed in August 1944 and all prisoners transferred to Auschwitz. The date of Karl Mayländer’s death is not known.