Seated woman with bare breasts

This black crayon drawing by the Austrian Expressionist, EGON SCHIELE depicts a seated woman with bare breasts. It is typical of the artist’s more placid, mature work, contrasting with his earlier nude drawings, which tend to have an explicit, even disturbing, erotic power. The drawing dates from 1918 - the year Schiele died. Although his career was short, spanning a scant nine years, he was remarkably prolific, with about 2,500 drawings and watercolours listed in the catalogue raisonne of his work. Schiele is also represented in the collection with a poster he designed in 1918 for the 49th exhibition of the Vienna Secession. The Gallery also owns drawings by Schiele’s compatriot and contemporary, Oskar Kokoschka, as well as figure studies by Gustav Klimt, who exerted a significant influence on both Schiele and Kokoschka.