Product Description

This opulently illustrated volume, featuring brilliant reproductions and illuminating commentary, spans Schiele’s earliest adolescent studies, through his time at the Vienna Academy, to his early death in 1918. The works are presented in large color plates which allow readers to study closely the extraordinary quality of the artist’s portraits, nudes and landscapes. This beautiful volume ffers revelatory insights into the nature of Schiele’s genius, while clarifying his vision and artistic impulses.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #276092 in Books
• Published on: 2006-03-30
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 419 pages

Review
"Lavishly illustrated and handsomely produced, this book is not only an in-depth look into Schiele’s work." -- Art Times, December 2005

"Lavishly illustrated… an invaluable addition to any art history library." -- Art of the Times, January 2006

"The sections on the artist’s continuing influence on pictorial culture are particular eye openers. A special, often highly personal, volume." -- Chicago Tribune, December 2005

About the Author
KLAUS ALBRECHT SCHRÖDER is an art historian and director of the Albertina Museum in Vienna. He is the author of Egon Schiele: Eros and Passion (Prestel).

Customer Reviews

Illustrative Awesomeness
If you're considering buying a Schiele monograph you probably know a bit about the man, which is good: no reason to "read" this book. It's not that the words aren't instructive and at times interesting regarding the man and his work. The problem is that the text is a mess. This is due to, 1) the mumbo-jumbo jargon seemingly endemic to art scholarship, 2) a German-English translation that is at best awkward, and 3) despite a proof-reading credit for the English text, barely a page goes by without some embarrassing error, down to simple typos that any spell-checking program would have flagged.

But the purpose of an art book is the illustrations, and the reason the text didn't knock a star off this rating is because those in this volume are astonishing. The plates and the figures are beautifully rendered in amazing resolution and impeccable color. This work is a catalogue of an exhibit staged by the Albertina a year or so ago, drawing on some work (and respective photographs) provided by other institutions and private collections (with images a half-step down in quality, though still fine), but the bulk is from the Albertina and they are to be given a standing ovation for their digital archiving. An added bonus is that, even though they have such a large holding of Schiele's works, the Albertina's collection rarely travels and as such doesn't much factor into the pictorial history of this amazing artist. Despite having a personal library of 20+ Schiele monographs--I am a fan(atic)--I've never seen a fair number of these works in reproduction.

Buy this book! It's a steal at its full retail price ($75)...at the Amazon price, I felt like I should be going to jail. I will note that due to the foundations of the Albertina's collection, and the thrust of this exhibit, the focus is entirely on Schiele's works-on-paper (a few oil/wood panels excepted); none of his canvases are included. So for a full appreciation of Schiele's genius, this isn't the only book you should have, but it's one helluva start!

an amazing book
Highly recommended for anyone who appreciates Egon Schiele, especially his drawings. The absolute gem in this volume is an essay "My journey with Egon Schiele" by his friend the collector Heinrich Benesch, which offers many wonderful insights into Schiele's personality.

Should Have Been Subtitled: His Works on Paper
I would agree with the other reviewers that the color reproductions of his drawings and watercolors are first class but Schiele's oil paintings are almost completely absent. I bought this book with the expectation it would be a comprehensive look at Schiele's entire oeuvre, what a disappointment as I flipped thru the pages in vain trying to find his major canvases.
This is a very puzzling and inexcusable omission by the publisher, editors and author.