Egon Schiele

Galerie Würthle, Vienna
C. J. Rittmannsberger, Vienna (probably acquired from the above in the 1960s and sold by the family: Sotheby's, London, June 26, 2008, lot 161)
Acquired at the above sale by A. Alfred Taubman

Executed on buff colored wove paper, not laid down. The sheet is hinged to the mount on the reverse of the upper corners. The sheet presents some faint creasing throughout with the most prominent lines running vertically on the left hand side of the composition and the right hand corner. Some discoloration to the sheet and scattered spots of foxing. Artist pinholes present in the upper corners and a few tiny nicks to the very edge of the sheet. This work is in overall good condition.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

In 1910, Schiele executed a number of drawings and watercolors of the male body, which epitomize his highly individual, newly developed Expressionist style. For the most part, the figures executed during this period are beautifully colored with transparent flesh tones and explicit in the physicality of their poses. The black outlines of the body are roughly sketched, revealing the strong skeletal structure while the flesh is highlighted with soft washes of color. Seated with his left leg crossed in and his right leg bent behind, the arms sensuously placed on the torso and right leg, we know that this is a pose which the figure cannot hold for very long and it is our anticipation of this movement that adds a sense of dynamism to the scene. Delineated in sharp contours, with the sitter's lips, ear and eyes rendered in vivid strokes of red pigment, Sitzender Junge demonstrates the artist's skill as a draftsman and his obsession with the sensuous quality of the human form. 

Writing about Schiele's depictions of the male nude, Simon Wilson has observed: "Schiele's mature art presents us with an image of man, free-floating, seen from strange and unusual angles and in strange and unusual postures, that is quite new in the long history of the human image in Western art. He developed in other works a completely fresh view of man in art—an extraordinary achievement. But that is not all: Schiele's image of man is of an unprecedented and remarkable completeness. He depicts [men] as the sexual being [they] are in a way no other great artist had ever done before, and at the same time gives full and equal value to the metaphysical and the psychological" (Simon Wilson, Egon Schiele, Ithaca, 1980, p. 18).