Landscape at Krumau 1916

Curator: Here we have Egon Schiele's "Landscape at Krumau," an oil painting completed in 1916. It depicts his mother's hometown, now known as Český Krumlov in the Czech Republic. Editor: It’s immediately striking, isn't it? The compressed space and angular forms create a kind of claustrophobic intensity, despite being a landscape. The palette feels earthy yet also oddly… agitated. Curator: Absolutely. Schiele's Krumau was a place steeped in personal history and societal unease during World War I. It reflects the social climate and displacement felt throughout Europe. Remember, Expressionism was heavily influenced by rapid urbanization and anxieties of the era. Editor: The sharp, almost brutal lines used to define the buildings definitely communicate that anxiety. It feels deliberately… disharmonious. He fragments the picture plane into facets of color and form, almost as if dissecting the town. What do you make of the naive perspective? Curator: Precisely, the composition and distorted perspective contribute to the painting's unease. The so-called naive perspective wasn’t really naive but an intentional strategy deployed by several Expressionist painters, who had a keen interest in showing their perception of a fragmented reality. He distorts space to expose underlying tensions within the community and anxieties about modernization encroaching upon the region. Editor: I see how this all folds into that social anxiety. Those geometric buildings are almost stacked precariously on top of one another! Notice also, how the colors aren’t naturalistic—a pink house here, an orange roof there. Everything feels just… off. Curator: The non-naturalistic colors also contributed to emotional impact. Schiele was very active in exhibiting the work he did of the area, aiming to show this expression of psychological anxiety and also a connection to the town’s identity. The visual disharmony of Schiele’s expression would impact the world of modern art by exploring feelings of identity in times of strife. Editor: So it's a visual manifestation of a disrupted sense of place? By abandoning realistic depictions and embracing such jarring compositions, the effect has more to do with emotional accuracy rather than topographic precision. Curator: Exactly. The politics of place. Editor: It’s amazing how potent a painting that explores place and form can be. Curator: Indeed; and how it holds relevance, speaking volumes about our anxieties still today.