The Lyricist 1911

Egon Schiele made this painting, ‘The Lyricist’, at some point, but we don’t know exactly when or with what. It's all about process, right? Here, Schiele’s got this expressionistic style, dark palette, heavy impasto. There is a real urgency to the mark-making. Look at the hands, how the fingers splay, the red dots like lesions. It's a raw, visceral depiction. The face seems almost like a mask, distorted and grotesque. Now, check out that fleshy tube coming out of the side of his head. It’s a pipe! The Lyricist wasn’t just writing, he was smoking, maybe to get inspired. The paint is thick, almost sculptural in places, especially around the face and hands. You can practically feel the texture, the nervous energy of Schiele's touch. It reminds me a bit of Kokoschka, the way he also twisted and contorted his figures to reveal some inner turmoil. It all feels very turn of the century Viennese.