Egon Schiele: the making of a collection

Abstract

In 1918 the 'Österreichische Galerie' under Director Franz M. Haberditzl was the first Austrian museum to acquire an oil painting by Schiele during his lifetime. Today the museum owns one of the top collections of paintings from the years 1907-1918 by the artist. The publication will examine each work separately and will answer questions with regard to their acquisition and subject as well as related works. At the same time, the results of the investigations into painting technique which the works have undergone since 2016 will be presented for the first time. Complementary essays explain the history of the collection and the changes to the stocks of Schiele's works which are taking place as a result of museum reforms, the exchange of pictures or the restitution of individual works. Exhibition: Lower Belvedere, Vienna, Austria (19.10.2018-17.02.2019).

Contents

"My pictures must be placed in temple-like buildings" : Foreword / Stella Rollig -- " ... I think it may be time for at least one painting to be hanging in the St.-G. [Staatsgalerie]." Egon Schiele and the Österreichische Galerie / Kerstin Jesse -- Schiele works at the Belvedere -- an overview / Kerstin Jesse -- Magnificent obsession : Schiele collectors and museum collections / Jane Kallir -- Tietze's museum reform--Intention and effect on the collection : The "Poiret donation" : Fate of a collection / Katinka Gratzer-Baumgärtner -- "I want to hear nothing of buying, of buying pictures--that sounds really crude. We exchange. You have the necessary funds and I give you pictures : we exchange. No price, nothing. Do you understand me?" : Exchange deals at the Österreichische Galerie with a focus on works by Egon Schiele / Kerstin Jesse -- "The pictures were purchased by me purely as a favor ..." : Egon Schiele, the Belvedere, and provenance research / Monika Mayer -- An investigation of painting techniques in Schiele works at the Belvedere : Methods and outcomes / Stefanie Jahn, Agathe Boruzczak -- Self-portrait, c. 1917 (later cast: 1980) / Kerstin Jesse -- View into the apartment of Leopold and Marie Czihaczek (interior), 1907 / Christian Bauer -- Restitution of a painting -- Houses in winter (View from the studio), 1907/08 / Christian Bauer -- Portrait of Eduard Kosmack, 1910 / Alexander Klee -- Portrait of Herbert Reiner (Reiner Boy), 1910 / Kerstin Jesse -- Sunflowers, 1911 / Rolf H. Johannsen -- City on the blue river II, 1911 / Franz Smola -- Façade of a house (Windows), 1914 / Kerstin Jesse -- Russian prisoner of war, 1915 / Kerstin Jesse -- The Tietze reform and its consequences -- Four trees, 1917 / Kerstin Jesse -- Death and maiden (Man and girl), 1915 / Alexander Klee -- Embrace (Man and woman), 1917 / Stephan Koja -- Mother with two children III, 1915-17 / Stephanie Auer -- Squatting couple (The family), 1918 / Stephanie Auer -- Portrait of Dr. Franz Martin Haberditzl, 1917 / Stephan Koja -- Portrait of the artist's wife, Edith Schiele, 1917/18 / Katinka Gratzer-Baumgärtner -- Portrait of Dr. Victor Ritter von Bauer, 1918 / Franz Smola -- Portrait of Dr. Hugo Koller, 1918 / Wolfgang Krug -- Exchange deals -- Appendix: "I will be the fruit that after decaying will leave behind enduring life; so how great must be your joy to have brought me forth?" : Biography of Egon Schiele / Stephanie Auer (compiler).