Portrait of Leopold Czihaczek, in Profile Facing Left 1907

Egon Schiele painted this portrait of Leopold Czihaczek in 1907 with oils on canvas. It’s a portrait that has come into being through intuitive, searching strokes that build form, and yet retain a beautiful openness. Schiele is a young painter here, using a limited tonal range – blacks, whites, browns, and pinks – in a way that feels both confident and exploratory. I can imagine Schiele’s process, standing before the canvas, squinting at his subject, then applying paint with a loaded brush. The textures, colors, and surface, all feel so connected to the painter’s physical act. See how the whites of the coat are dragged downwards, almost like streaks of rain? It's a gesture that communicates a feeling of both elegance and melancholy, and maybe that’s the artist's intention. Schiele really was one of those painters, like, say, Kokoschka, who wasn't afraid to go deep. Painting, for these guys, was about embodied expression, ambiguity, and the messiness of being human.