Egon Schiele with His Uncle Leopold Czihaczek during a Hike up Hegerberg Mountain near Böheimkirchen, 15th Jul. 1908

The young student Egon Schiele (1890–1918) and his uncle Leopold Czihaczek (1842–1929) appear to have made themselves almost comfortable in a large haystack in front of a sparse forest. Czihaczek, slightly blinded by the sun, is looking directly into the camera, while his nephew is sitting higher up, his gaze fixed to the right. After the untimely death of Schiele’s father in 1905, his uncle had taken over joint guardianship of him and his younger sister Gertrude (1894–1981). In the summer, the Czihaczeks were in the habit of renting a cottage in the environs of Vienna away from the bustling metropolis. Schiele was sometimes taken along for their summer sojourns and participated in their excursions (cf. Egon Schiele and Leopold Czihaczek during a Hike Up Buchberg Mountain in Neulengbach). The relationship between Schiele and his conservative uncle was not free of friction, caused likely by Egon’s spending and the fact that he dropped out of the Academy. Czihaczek thus felt compelled to resign from his duties as joint guardian prematurely.

KJ, 2024