Portrait of Paris von Gütersloh 1918

This is Egon Schiele's portrait of Paris von Gütersloh, made with a brown crayon on paper. Schiele’s lines are raw, angular, and they capture a penetrating gaze. You can feel the intensity of the artist looking, the way the lines flicker around the eyes and eyebrows. I can imagine Schiele, staring intently, trying to capture not just a likeness but the very essence of his subject. Maybe he was thinking about their shared artistic pursuits, the bond between them. See how the lines around Gütersloh’s mouth are so delicate, so tentative? There’s a vulnerability there, amidst the boldness of the overall drawing. Schiele was so young when he made this, just on the cusp of his own artistic breakthrough, and you see him grappling with line and form, pushing the boundaries of portraiture. It’s like he’s in conversation with artists like Klimt but also forging his own path. These artists inspire each other. It’s a reminder that art is always evolving.