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Newborn with Bent Knees, 1910

Leopold Museum,
Vienna
Black chalk, gouache on paper
43.2×28.9 cm

Artists

  • Egon Schiele

    (Tulln 1890–1918 Vienna)

Unfortunately not on display at the moment
During the first months of 1910, Egon Schiele (1890–1918) created at least six depictions of newborn children at the 2nd Gynecological Hospital in Vienna. Three of them form part today of the collection of the Leopold Museum. These are, along with the present one Lying Newborn and Lying Newborn. Schiele depicted the moment of birth, the moment the body becomes visible as being thrown into the world: The naked bodies of the newborns are abandoned at this threshold without protection. These images were only possible through Schiele’s friendship with the gynaecologist Erwin von Graff (1878–1952), who granted the artist access to the clinical institution and allowed him to acquaint himself with the medical view of the body. Along with depictions of children, Schiele also executed drawings of pregnant women on the examination table around this time, for instance Nude Pregnant Woman, Reclining.

VG, 2021

Object data

Artist/author
  • Egon Schiele
Title
Newborn with Bent Knees
Date
1910
Art movement
Expressionism
Category
Graphic work
Material​/technique
Black chalk, gouache on paper
Dimensions
43.2×28.9 cm
Signature
Monogrammed lower left: S (in vertical format)
Credit line
Leopold Museum, Vienna, Inv. 1410
Inventory access
Contributed to the Leopold Museum-Privatstiftung in 1994
Selection of Reference works
  • Rudolf Leopold: Egon Schiele. Gemälde, Aquarelle, Zeichnungen, hrsg. von Elisabeth Leopold, München 2020.
  • Verborgene Schätze der österreichischen Aquarellmalerei, hrsg. von Rudolf Leopold/Franz Smola, Wien 2010 (Ausst.-Kat. Leopold Museum, Wien 05.03.2010-24.05.2010).
  • Jane Kallir: Egon Schiele - The complete works. Expanded edition including a biography and a catalogue raisonné, New York 1998.
Catalogue raisonne
  • J. Kallir 1990/1998: D387
  • Leopold 1972/2020: Taf. 37
Keywords
nudepregnancy/birth(nude) human figureinfant/babymedicine/medical science

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Provenance

Provenance research
Leopold Museum i

Nachlass Egon Schiele, Wien (1919);
Melanie Schuster geb. Schiele, Wien (ab 1919); (1)
Dr. Rudolf Leopold, Wien (vor 1972-1994); (2)
Leopold Museum-Privatstiftung, Wien (1994).

  1. Stempel: „Nachlass Egon Schiele“ auf der Blattrückseite; Rudolf Leopold, Egon Schiele. Die Sammlung Leopold, Wien u. Köln 1995, S. 56, Nr. 23.
  2. Michael Wladika, Dossier zu 16 Blättern Egon Schieles mit der Provenienz Melanie Schuster vom 11.04.2012, S. 50 und S. 72.

For provenance related information, please contact us.

Search in collection

nudepregnancy/birth(nude) human figureinfant/babymedicine/medical science