Untitled 1918

Curator: This is an untitled pencil drawing by Egon Schiele, created in 1918. Editor: It looks… frantic, almost unfinished. Like a fleeting thought barely captured on paper. What’s going on here? Is it a sketch for something bigger, or just Schiele letting off steam? Curator: Likely the former, yes. Schiele used drawing extensively as preparation for larger paintings, although many survive as accomplished works in their own right. As you can see, the expressive line is characteristic of Expressionism. Editor: Expressive is an understatement! That angular face, the raised hands—he’s practically screaming silently from the page. Is that… are those shears looming over his head? This has psycho-drama written all over it. Curator: Well, if we look at the date, 1918, Schiele, along with his mentor Gustav Klimt, both died during the great flu pandemic, that context weighs heavy, doesn't it? But such works allowed Schiele to represent feelings of anguish that gripped many during and after the war. Editor: Right, this certainly communicates a deep feeling. And thinking about a deadly pandemic—that lurking shear shape, suddenly seems much darker… a visceral feeling. This is raw and, frankly, a bit disturbing. It's like a half-formed memory of trauma. Curator: You’ve pinpointed it well: trauma. And with figures, even unfinished like these, that communicate what words often fail to. I wonder, were the work more finished would that sensation have lessened or have been heighten. Editor: Definitely something worth thinking about! This piece makes you question and really consider feeling, which might be exactly the intention and impact the artist had intended. Thanks for bringing this powerful piece into context. Curator: My pleasure, that final year proved to be intensely creatively as well as historically. A complicated story in pencil, no doubt.