Egon Schiele ─ His Life and Death

The story of the artistic genius who provoked early 20th-century tolerance.

Egon Schiele is an evocative depiction based on the life of the Austro-Hungarian artist whose short career spanned the turn of the 20th century. Schiele (1890-1918) was a painter known for full-frontal portraits of naked women (and on many occasions, himself). They were stark and disturbing. He painted his subjects in gaunt, twisting and unnatural poses. Their voyeuristic tone and blatant eroticism outraged society, landing him in prison for 24 days. Nevertheless, his works would have a strong influence on the development of expressionist art.

The book focuses on the artist's creative years, the development of his talent, his relationships with other artists, including Gustav Klimt, the women in his life, and his obsession with making provocative art. Quickly following Schiele's early successes were his failures. In the end, it was the Spanish flu that killed him at the tragically young age of 28.

Egon Schiele is a seductive and intimate portrait of an artistic genius who was both lauded and condemned for his brilliance. His works, at one time judged to be disgusting and perverse, are now considered masterpieces and are in museums all around the world.

Xavier Coste is a graphic novel artist and illustrator.