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Lot Essay
Executed in 1914, Knabe in Matrosenanzug (Boy in a Sailor Suit) showcases Egon Schiele’s extraordinary ability to combine precise drawing and technical skill, with vivid, expressionist colouring. Using a carefully balanced combination of gouache, watercolour, and coloured pencils, this richly worked composition depicts a young, blonde adolescent in a classic blue and white sailor suit, its distinctively striped royal blue collar and cuffs captured in a soft play of subtly variegated tones. Though the identity of the sitter remains unknown, the classic outfit suggests the boy may have come from a middle- or upper-class background, where this was a favoured costume for children during this period. Indeed, Schiele would go on to portray his wife Edith’s nephew, Paul Erdmann, in a similar outfit the following year (Kallir, no. 1697; Private collection). Here, Schiele records his protagonist’s features with a strong, clear line, showcasing his acute observational skills as he conjures an arresting impression of the young man with a striking economy of means.
At this time, Schiele’s figures had become distinctly more three dimensional and solid on the page, the contours of their forms firmer and more precise, captured in strong, flowing lines. With their rounded, volumetric bodies, which suggest the musculature and structure beneath the skin, his sitters attain a greater sense of naturalism and presence, offering a stark contrast to the waif-like characters of the artist’s previous figure-studies. Colour also took on a new prominence during these years, with accents of vibrant red, green and blue utilised increasingly in Schiele’s delicate treatment of skin, their light touches balancing the densely worked passages of his figures’ costumes and clothing. In Knabe in Matrosenanzug, for example, the contours of the boy’s face are lightly reinforced by a soft ochre tone, while subtle hints of scarlet and teal, applied using a dry brush, lend a sense of texture and volume to the planes of his face. Each touch of the brush appears carefully considered and placed with intention by Schiele, emphasising certain passages or features, with subtle strokes of pigment that convey the nuanced play of light across his features.
In the young boy’s sailor suit, the shirt is rendered with bolder, more pronounced brushwork, the creases and folds emphasised with strong lines of velvety blue, and deeper tones of teal green. Schiele also employs different levels of opacity and density in the passages of watercolour, in order to suggest the textural shifts between different elements of the costume—the boy’s shorts, for example, are executed in sweeping, fluid pools of bright blue, indicating a softer, looser fabric than the heavier, more formal collar, which hugs the slope of his shoulders. Though Schiele plays close attention to the details of the sailor suit, the architecture of the boy’s face, and the subtle play of colour across his features, the artist leaves certain elements of the figure deliberately incomplete. Such is the case for his left hand, the space at the end of his sleeve left empty, while the figure’s other arm disappears right off the edge of the page. This accentuates the apparent immediacy of the portrait, creating a vivid snap-shot effect, a fragmented impression of the figure captured quickly on the page.
Schiele was renowned for imbuing his subjects with a dynamic energy and sense of movement, often capturing them in unconventional stances or extreme expressions. In Knabe in Matrosenanzug the boy twists to the right, turning partially away from the artist, so that his face is now seen in profile. His arms are raised in an unusual, energetic gesture that echoes several of the poses adopted in the artist’s own self-portraits of the period—arranged perpendicular to the body, the arms are bent sharply at the elbows, one pointing upwards, the other directed down towards the floor. While a number of other drawings from this year, such as Schiele’s portraits of the writer Karl Otten and Arthur Roessler, feature sitters making similarly expressive gestures with their hands and arms, in the present work there is a natural ease to the youth’s movements. Rather than appearing directed or dictated by the artist, it appears as if the boy cannot sit still, and is about to leap from his seated position and disappear at any moment.
At this time, Schiele’s figures had become distinctly more three dimensional and solid on the page, the contours of their forms firmer and more precise, captured in strong, flowing lines. With their rounded, volumetric bodies, which suggest the musculature and structure beneath the skin, his sitters attain a greater sense of naturalism and presence, offering a stark contrast to the waif-like characters of the artist’s previous figure-studies. Colour also took on a new prominence during these years, with accents of vibrant red, green and blue utilised increasingly in Schiele’s delicate treatment of skin, their light touches balancing the densely worked passages of his figures’ costumes and clothing. In Knabe in Matrosenanzug, for example, the contours of the boy’s face are lightly reinforced by a soft ochre tone, while subtle hints of scarlet and teal, applied using a dry brush, lend a sense of texture and volume to the planes of his face. Each touch of the brush appears carefully considered and placed with intention by Schiele, emphasising certain passages or features, with subtle strokes of pigment that convey the nuanced play of light across his features.
In the young boy’s sailor suit, the shirt is rendered with bolder, more pronounced brushwork, the creases and folds emphasised with strong lines of velvety blue, and deeper tones of teal green. Schiele also employs different levels of opacity and density in the passages of watercolour, in order to suggest the textural shifts between different elements of the costume—the boy’s shorts, for example, are executed in sweeping, fluid pools of bright blue, indicating a softer, looser fabric than the heavier, more formal collar, which hugs the slope of his shoulders. Though Schiele plays close attention to the details of the sailor suit, the architecture of the boy’s face, and the subtle play of colour across his features, the artist leaves certain elements of the figure deliberately incomplete. Such is the case for his left hand, the space at the end of his sleeve left empty, while the figure’s other arm disappears right off the edge of the page. This accentuates the apparent immediacy of the portrait, creating a vivid snap-shot effect, a fragmented impression of the figure captured quickly on the page.
Schiele was renowned for imbuing his subjects with a dynamic energy and sense of movement, often capturing them in unconventional stances or extreme expressions. In Knabe in Matrosenanzug the boy twists to the right, turning partially away from the artist, so that his face is now seen in profile. His arms are raised in an unusual, energetic gesture that echoes several of the poses adopted in the artist’s own self-portraits of the period—arranged perpendicular to the body, the arms are bent sharply at the elbows, one pointing upwards, the other directed down towards the floor. While a number of other drawings from this year, such as Schiele’s portraits of the writer Karl Otten and Arthur Roessler, feature sitters making similarly expressive gestures with their hands and arms, in the present work there is a natural ease to the youth’s movements. Rather than appearing directed or dictated by the artist, it appears as if the boy cannot sit still, and is about to leap from his seated position and disappear at any moment.