Egon Schiele: Landscapes

The credit for the first notion of publishing a book strictly devoted to Schiele's landscapes (and cityscapes) deservedly goes to Kimberly A. Smith/Yale University Press. One might say that it was a bit sneaky of Rudolf Leopold & the Leopold Museum, after having been interviewed and providing reproductions for said effort to in the same year mount this comprehensive exhibition and publish this sumptuous catalogue. I'm not saying that, because the reproductions are better and the text doesn't suffer from the pompousnous of Deconstructionism. This is a gorgeous book. As well, some of the paintings are paired with period photos/postcards of the actual scenes Schiele painted. Leopold vastly expounded upon this conceit by researching and seeking out with camera a large number of photographs of Schiele's motifs. It's hugely interesting to see how little certain corners of Austria have changed in nearly a hundred years. Of particularly poignant, and instructive, note, is the volume's side-by-side reproduction of Schiele's "Autumn Trees I" of 1911, held in a private collection. The original, as widely reproduced--indeed in the Smith/Yale book, albeit poorly--has been ruined by a "restorer" who decided that the pink striations in the sky had been added by a later hand. If you're interested in Schiele's landscapes, buy this book. Buy this book and turn to pages 84-5 and weep with me.

Egon Schiele is well-known for his unequalled skill and originality as a draftsman of the human form, including an unparalleled number of nude self-portraits. His work as a landscape painter is less known but also intensely interesting and often of surpassing color, form and overall beauty. "Egon Schiele Landscapes" by Rudolph Leopold is an impressive chronicle of Schiele's work in this area. The large-format book is beautifully printed, but its strongest point by far is the painting-by-painting explanation and criticism that author Leopold (a Schiele scholar) offers here. The book starts with surprisingly sophisticated works done by a 16-year old Schiele (1907), showing similarities to paintings by French, Spanish and other European post-impressionists. Several of these early paintings look like landscapes of the same period by Henri Matisse. By 1910, Schiele was painting in a distinctive Secessionist style that became more so in color and form in the eight remaining years of the artist's life. The total output of his 28-year life is phenomenal. This is a wonderful book from every aspect. It was originally produced for an exhibition of Schiele's landscapes at the Leopold Museum (Vienna) in 2004, but it stands as an excellent piece of art history scholarship and highly desirable addition to anyone's collection of art books. Highly recommended.

Leopold's book provides an excellent introduction to Schiele's extraordinary landscapes. He is better known for his figure drawings. This book is a revelation. Schiele provided an extraordinary perspective on landscape and architectural form.

Somewhere I thought buildings were architectural drawings and landscape was trees, water, sky, nature. These were largely buildings. So I guess I learned something.

This book has a formidable selection of Schiele's work. The photographs beautifully reproduce Schiele's pictures. This is a great addition to anyone's art library. How could any book about Egon Schiele be anything but marvelous?

This book is centered on a hitherto less well-known aspect of Egon Schiele's art, i.e. his landscapes. The catalogue for a 2004 exhibition held at the Leopold Museum in Vienna (the largest Schiele collection in the world), it was written by Rudolph Leopold himself (the founder of the museum and largest Schiele collector in the world). It lists most of the landscapes painted by Schiele chronologically, whether painting or drawing, and describes each of them very thoroughly. Some works which at the time (2004) were believed lost (a magnificent Krumau landscape and a beautiful sunflower painting) have since then reappeared on the art market and made headlines as they sold for record prices. The illustrations are of a good quality, even though not as perfect as the ones that grace another available book on the same subject, "Egon Schiele's landscapes, between ruin and renewal" which is a more literary and less purely factual work.

The works are in full color with many close ups to show the finer details of the works. I especially liked the number of photographs of the sites on which the art was based. It provides for a greater appreciation of his artistry. This book is a must for any lover of his art.

The book served as a great over-view of Schiele's creative ability in dealing with his stylistic landscapes. The book offered an amazing variety and examples of his works.....along with a well written text. A good choice and purchase!

Libro bellissimo, da avere. Perfetta la consegna.

If you are interested in Schiele or in Secessionist art in general you will enjoy this book. Its rather poorly titled as there are fewer landscapes than cityscapes in it but " Non-figurative Schiele" - which would be more accurate - isn't exactly snappy and might baffle. The contents cover his paintings and sketches of cityscapes, some landscapes and a few flower paintings in a wide range of media. The author neatly ties in biography, commentary and informative photographs to give a marvellous idea of Schiele's life, work and process. The text is inadvertently amusing in places as the author uses it to sternly correct the errors of other authorities on Schiele. ( You can hear his tremendous relish at knowing better in many places.) However since Dr Rudolph Leopold definitely knows his stuff about the artist and managed to give me a far more information about him, and his process, than any other of the far bigger and more expensive books on Schiele that I own, I can forgive this tendency. The quality of the reproductions is excellent and this small, relatively inexpensive Prestel book was fascinating and an excellent buy. Like many people I was well acquainted with Schiele's portraits and self-portraits but didn't know much about his other work and found this book really informative, interesting and it far exceeded my expectations. I recommend it highly.

Las ilustraciones son muy buenas, se disfrutan, así mismo, el texto, que tiene una investigación bastante detallada. ¡Una joya para leer y gozar!

My wife and I visited the gallery ostensibly to see Klimt's work - The Kiss was in a separate gallery! I was not familiar with Klimt's Landscapes which are fabulous! However, the main attraction once in the gallery was the work of Schiele - his Landscapes are superb. We bought the two books which are inspiring and very clearly written with many examples and photographs The Klimt book mentions more of his history with "family" photographs

Egon Schiele son sorprende con este libro, donde descubres que además de su particular estilo en la figura humana, lo sabe trasladar en una infinidad de representaciones del entorno donde él vivió o viajó, mostrando la foto original del lugar y su particular adaptación al dibujo. Exquisito!