National Gallery puts two Egon Schiele drawings on rare display
One of Egon Schiele’s most recognisable drawings is now on display at the National Gallery Prague. Seated Woman with Bent Knees has been reproduced countless times on posters and merchandise, but the fragile original normally remains in storage.
Created in 1917, Seated Woman with Bent Knees shows Schiele’s wife, Edith Harms, sitting on the floor in a provocative pose. Petra Kolářová, curator of the National Gallery’s Collection of Prints and Drawings, explains what makes the work different from Schiele’s other depictions of women:
“He depicts her here in a provocative pose, sitting on the floor with her knees bent and wearing only underwear. At the same time, he gives her face an intimate, portrait-like expression. So unlike his female nudes, this drawing offers an insight into his warm relationship with his wife.”
The National Gallery is showing the drawing to mark its 230th anniversary. The anniversary is also being commemorated with a limited-edition set of stamps featuring works from the gallery’s collections, including Seated Woman with Bent Knees.
The drawing is on display at the Trade Fair Palace in Prague as part of the permanent exhibition 1796–1918: Art of the Long Century. Next week, it will make way for another Schiele drawing, Self-Portrait, from 1914, says Kolářová:
“It is in fact one of Egon Schiele’s many self-portraits. He portrayed himself very frequently, using self-portraiture to search for his own identity and capture different inner states. His self-portraits, and his portraits more generally, are characterised by a restless expression, nervous gestures and unstable poses.”
Schiele was an Austrian Expressionist painter, but he also had a strong connection to the Czech lands. He spent periods in Český Krumlov, where his mother was born, and knew the town by its German name.
The National Gallery acquired both drawings in 1930. The Modern Gallery, one of the predecessors of today’s National Gallery, bought them from the Viennese art dealer and gallery Wirthle und Sohn.
Schiele was not yet widely recognised at the time, and some of his provocative nudes were even considered pornography. Today, his works are worth millions of Czech crowns.
The drawings can only go on display for 14 days because prolonged exposure to light can damage the paper, Petra Kolářová explains.
“Works on paper can only be exposed to light for a limited period of time. That is why we can only display these drawings for 14 days. Prolonged exposure to light causes them to deteriorate: the paper becomes brittle and yellow, and the colours fade.”
The National Gallery Prague has altogether seven works by Schiele in its collection: four drawings and three paintings.
Seated Woman with Bent Knees will remain on display until October 11, when the National Gallery will replace it with Self-Portrait. The second drawing will be on view from October 13 to October 25, before returning to storage.
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