Porträt Marie Schiele 1979

Egon Schiele made this portrait of Marie Schiele with what looks like a stick of charcoal and paper. Schiele's marks are super present, aren't they? The charcoal almost vibrates on the page. I'm drawn to the marks around the ear and the soft shading around the cheekbone. It's incredible how much depth he creates with such simple materials. You can practically feel the texture of the paper beneath the charcoal, giving the drawing a tactile quality. The lines feel raw and immediate, and yet there's a tenderness in the way he captures Marie's features. He is clearly feeling the form as much as he is seeing it. There’s a wonderful balance of abstraction and figuration at play. Schiele reminds me a bit of Kokoschka, another Austrian artist who wasn't afraid to get a bit messy and emotional in his work. These guys weren't trying to make pretty pictures; they were trying to get at something deeper, something more real. And that's what makes their art so powerful, even today.