I managed to spend a delightful few hours today at the Leopold Museum in the Museum Quarter in Vienna. The Leopold in question managed to spot early on the brilliance of the young artist, Egon Schiele. Schiele, who died tragically at 28 years of age from the Spanish flu that ravished Europe after World War I, has a very distinctive style, simple and yet expressive, that resonates with contemporary audiences. He is an influence on Lucian Freud, amongst others. Schiele was encouraged by important contemporaries, for example Gustav Klimt. The collection in the museum is mainly based on the private collection of Leopold, which he generously donated to the Austrian state. It consists of works by Klimt, Schiele, as well as Viennese contemporaries, Oskar Kokoschka and Kolo Moser. The museum is testament to how vibrant a city Vienna was at the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th, in art, image making, ceramics, glass, and modern furniture. Of course, this all came tragically to an end when the assassination of the Austrian Emperor led to the start of World War I. The rest is history, as they say. It was fascinating to see archival footage of the Emperor showing in the museum. Needless to say, I spent too much money in the bookshop! Looking at the photos, you can see how distinctive Schieles and Klimts styles are, youd never mix them up.
Posted on: Sat, 19 Apr 2014 18:52:45 +0000