Head of a Woman 1908

Egon Schiele made this drawing, Head of a Woman, with crayon, and the colours are already doing something wild. There's a brown paper showing through, with dense charcoal on the hair, and then flesh-toned crayons, almost like he's building up a sculpture in colour. Look at the hand pressed against the face. The skin is activated with marks, a little like late de Kooning, where all the marks vibrate, it's like the whole surface is alive. Schiele knew how to get this kind of shimmering effect by layering thin strokes of colour. I'm reminded of Klimt's use of gold leaf, how he builds up the surface of his paintings in a similar way, creating a feeling of depth and texture. You might think about how his practice was similar to Kokoschka's, both of them were working with very linear, expressionistic forms at this time. Art is never made in a vacuum, it is part of an ongoing conversation.