Exceptional works by Egon Schiele (1890 - 1918), probably the most influential artist of international Modernism, are among the highlights of Dorotheum’s November Auction Week. A gouache titled “Woman with Raised Arms” is to be offered at the “Modern Art” auction on 26 November 2019. It is estimated at 900,000 to 1,600,000 euros. The watercolour “Girl Lying on her Side with a Striped Skirt” will also come under the hammer (€ 400,000 – 600,000).

The depiction of a “Woman with Raised Arms” is dated 1914, an impactful year in Egon Schiele’s short life. He had found a new patron, a dealer offered him the prospect of his first solo exhibition, and after years of concubinage with Wally Neuzil, he married a bourgeois woman, Edith Harms. This also had a stylistic influence on the radical Expressionist artist, writes leading expert Jane Kallir about the work, a study for the painting entitled “Young Mother”. Kallir is the author of Schiele’s catalogue raisonné, published in 1990. In her eyes, Schiele attaches more importance to the formal observation of the female figure; he stylises it. The irregular lines and the stippled strokes have the paradoxical effect of increasing the plasticity of the figure, Kallir believes (€ 900,000 – 1,600,000).

Schiele’s works on offer also include a hitherto unknown four-page manuscript by the artist himself, a manifesto on the essence of art (€ 20,000 - 40,000).

MODERN ART
Auction date Tuesday, 26 November 2019
Viewing from 16 November 2019
Venue Palais Dorotheum, 1010 Vienna, Dorotheergasse 17
Specialist Elke Königseder, Tel. +43-1-515 60-358, elke.koenigseder@dorotheum.at