Herrenporträt 1910

Egon Schiele made this portrait of a man in a suit at an unknown date, probably with oil on canvas. The color palette is muted, as the brushstrokes work to convey the texture of skin and fabric. What was Schiele thinking when he made it? What was he hoping to convey about the sitter's state of mind? There's something about the downward cast of the eyes and the tense mouth that hints at a well of melancholy. Schiele was so young when he died, it's hard to imagine him painting someone older with all this lived experience etched into their face. Artists are always in conversation with one another, and I wonder if he was thinking about Rembrandt's portraits, which captured the inner lives of their sitters. And that’s what painting is all about—an ongoing exchange of ideas across time, inspiring creativity, and allowing for multiple interpretations.