Egon Schiele

Dr. Heinrich Schwarz, Vienna

Richard Davis, Minneapolis

Galerie St. Etienne, New York

Dr. & Mrs. Richard Sterba, Bloomfield Hills

Serge Sabarsky, New York (acquired from the above on February 17, 1982)

New York, Galerie St. Etienne, Lovis Corinth, Oskar Kokschka, Egon Schiele, 1953

New York, Galerie St. Etienne, Egon Schiele: Watercolors and Drawings, 1957, no. 19, illustrated in the catalogue

Boston, Institute of Contemporary Art, Egon Schiele, 1960, no. 33, illustrated in the catalogue

Vienna, Akademier der bildenstein Künste, Egon Schiele, vom Schüler zum Meister: Zeichnungen und Aquarelle 1906-1918, 1984, no. 76, illustrated in the catalogue

Rome, Pinacoteca Capitolina, Campidoglio, Egon Schiele, 1984, no. 117, illustrated in the catalogue

New York, Sabarsky Gallery, Expressionists: Paintings, Watercolors and Drawings by 12 German Expressionists, 1984, no. 81, illustrated in the catalogue

Charleroi, Palais des Beaux-Arts, Egon Schiele,1987, no. 76, illustrated in the catalogue

New York, Neue Galerie, Egon Schiele, 2005-06, D102, illustrated in color in the catalogue

 

Alessandra Comini, Schiele's Portraits, Los Angeles, 1974, illustrated pl. 107a

Christian Nebehay, Egon Schiele, 1890-1918: Leben, Briefe, Gedichte, Salzburg, 1979, fig. 212, illustrated

Christian Nebehay, Egon Schiele, 1980, fig. 115, illustrated p. 120

Hans Dichand, "Er enthülltre die Macht der Erotik" in Pan, 1986, p. 38

Christian Nebehay, Gustav Klimt, Egon Schiele und die Familie Lederer, Bern, 1987, p. 75

Jane Kallir, Egon Schiele, The Complete Works, New York, 1998, no. 1232,  illustrated p. 492,

Jane Kallir, Egon Schiele, Drawings and Watercolors, London, 2003, illustrated in color p. 232

Agnes-Husslein Arco & Jane Kallir, Egon Schiele, Self-Portraits and Portraits, Munich, 2011, no. 49, illustrated in color p. 140-41

 

Very good condition. The sheet is hinged at the top. Very tiny flecks of foxing appear to the sides of the sitter's shoulders. Residual tape appears along the left side and top edge on the verso. The sheet is light-struck, but the colors are lively and fresh.
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.

Schiele's depiction of the transfixing Elisabeth Lederer ranks among the artist's most enviable portrait commissions.  As was his practice for his more erotic images, Schiele approaches his subject with a keen eye for sensuous detail and coquettish signals.  His selective use of gouache adds texture and contour to his precise line drawing, enhancing the glimmer of the sitter's eyes and the glisten of her lips that betray the slightest smile of delight as she poses for the handsome young artist.

 

This picture is one of the few portraits of Elisabeth that Schiele completed in early 1913, while visiting with the Lederer family over the holidays.   August Lederer was an Austro-Hungarian industrialist, and his wife Serena had formed a close friendship and patronage with Gustav Klimt during these years.  It was Klimt who introduced Schiele to the Lederers in an attempt to raise the younger artist's spirits following his traumatic ordeal earlier in the year.  In April of that year, Schiele had been arrested on charges of  indecency after the authorities discovered sexually explicit drawings in his possession.  With this experience fresh in his memory, Schiele certainly appreciated meeting a new potential patron, and was thrilled when Lederer invited him to spend Christmas near the family's Hungarian distillery in Györ and paint a portrait of his youngest son Erich.  Upon arriving he immediately set to work on sketches of both the 15 year old Erich and his captivating older 18 year old sister, Elisabeth.

Because she was the daughter of his patron and host, Schiele was certainly careful to remain within the boundaries of propriety when portraying Elisabeth.  His attraction to the girl, however, is evident in the present work.  Alessandra Comini perceptively notes the differences between Schiele's approach to the image of Elisabeth and that of her younger brother: "The artist responds to the magnetism of the great dark eyes, so similar to Erich's in their exotic effect, but he does not cloud them over with imitations of Angst or somnambulistic reverie.  Character differences between the brother and sister also receive comment.  Schiele had shown the more aggressive Erich with arms and legs and even an ear projecting, angular and all askew, while the older, more reserved, and perhaps shyer Elisabeth is presented with her arms close to her body and with the hands clasped in a gesutre of self containment" (A. Comini, op. cit., p. 117) (fig. 2).

Jane Kallir has also pointed out that, after his imprisonment, Schiele was very careful not to sexualize young models and developed a new sensitivity in his formal portraits of women. "This is seen not only in his depictions of his lover Wally, but also in his studies of Erich Lederer's sister Elisabeth. Schiele was beginning to assimilate the script that is intrinsic to the double standard: only a chaste, 'good' woman is a fully-fledged human being; a sexualized model, like a prostitute, is merely an object" (Jane Kallir, Egon Schiele, Drawings and Watercolors, op. cit., p. 223).

 

Schiele went on to complete his oil painting of Erich Lederer, who would become the artist's close friend over the next several years, but he would never paint one of Elisabeth.  It was Klimt who eventually completed a grand oil of the young woman (later known as Baroness Elisabeth Bachofen-Echt), which hung alongside his portraits of her mother and grandmother (fig. 1).