(Tulln 1890–1918 Wien)
Stehendes Bauernmädchen mit Kopftuch / Peasant Girl with Kerchief, Standing, signed and dated EGON SCHIELE 1915, estate-stamp and Egon-Schiele-Archiv stamp on the reverse, pencil on paper, 46 x 29.4 cm, framed

Provenance:
Max Wagner, Vienna
by descent to his daughter, Dr. Anneliese Scheffenegger, Vienna acquired in 1999
Private Collection, Vienna, by descent to the present owner
Private Collection, Vienna

Registered and illustrated in:
Jane Kallir, Egon Schiele. The Complete Works, New York 1990, cat. rais. no. D 1722, ill. p. 549

Compare with:
Jane Kallir, Egon Schiele. The Complete Works, New York 1990, cat. rais. no. D 1522 (1914) and no. D 1821 (1916)

Exhibited and illustrated in:
1948, Egon Schiele: Gedächtnis-Ausstellung zum 30. Todestag, Albertina, Vienna, no. 289 (unpublished catalogue)
2001/2002, Klimt-Kokoschka-Schiele: dall’Art Nouveau all’Espressionismo, Museo Complesso del Vittoriano, Rome, October 6, 2001 – February 3, 2002, exhib. cat., ill. p. 107
2002, Klimt-Schiele-Kokoschka: L’età d’oro di Vienna con i suoi maestri, Civico Museo Revoltella, Galleria d’Arte Moderna, Trieste, February 8 - April 21, 2002, exhib. cat., ill. p. 152

We are grateful to Mrs. Jane Kallir for her help in cataloguing this work.

The drawing of a young girl with a kerchief is particularly striking within the body of Schiele’s work from 1915, once because of the motif and once because of its precise lines without the addition of colour.
The face is entirely in profile, but the body is turned slightly to the side to position the girl in the undefined space. The right hand is loosely clenched, the gaze is concentrated into the distance yet without a focus. The drawing lives solely in the line that captures the contour of the body with so much assurance, speed, and precision, and without any real interruption. Razor-sharp, it cuts the sheet and at the same time the curves are soft and forming. It is the image of a girl who has captured the painter's attention with her quiet self-confidence and striking aura of inward repose.

The drawing was acquired – whether as a gift or a purchase is not known - by the editor and dedicated Social Democratic politician Max Wagner (1882–1954). Perhaps his most significant act was to assemble the most extensive collection of documents, letters and autographs by and about Egon Schiele. This "EGON SCHIELE ARCHIVE" was bequeathed to the Albertina in 1954. The drawing of the girl with head-scarf, however, remained in the private collection of Max Wagner and was only sold by his heirs to a friend of the family in 1999.

„It is a delight of strength and rarity to see how his line flows.“

Arthur Roessler 1915, quoted in: Nebehay, 1979, p. 334

To the blog article