After Egon Schiele (1890-1918) was freed from the shadow of his mentor and role model, Gustav Klimt, he had only ten years to write his characteristic style into the annals of modern history before the Castilian flu claimed his life. As a self-conscious child prodigy and an inveterate provocateur, this proved no great challenge to him.

His emaciated, drawn figures, his radical depiction of sexuality, and his self-portraits in which he depicted himself with haggard facial expressions bordering on genius and madness, did not have the decorative quality of Klimt's hymns of love, sexuality and yearning devotion. Instead, Schiele's work expressed a brutal frankness that would disgust and irreversibly change Viennese society.

Although his creations were later labelled "degenerate" and for a time virtually forgotten, they influenced generations of artists, from Günter Brus and Francis Bacon to Tracey Emin. Today, their then misunderstood work continues to fetch exorbitant prices on the international art market.

First published in an XL edition, this monograph is now available in a shorter, more compact version to celebrate TASCHEN's 40th anniversary, and presents paintings and drawings that recall the prolific last decade of Schiele's life. The works, many of them specially photographed for the XL edition, are accompanied by essays introducing the life and work of the Austrian master to place him in the context of European Expressionism and to examine his extraordinary legacy.

About the series

TASCHEN is now 40 years old! Since we began our work as cultural archaeologists in 1980, TASCHEN has become synonymous with accessible publishing, helping book devourers all over the world to build their own library of art, anthropology and eroticism at an unbeatable price. Today we celebrate 40 years of great books while staying true to our company's credo. The 40th Anniversary Edition series brings together some of the stars of our catalogue in accessible editions: more compact and better priced but with the same commitment to impeccable production.

Publisher: Taschen