Portrait of Egon Schiele, c. 1916

The painter Felix A. Harta (1884-1967), born in Budapest, became acquainted with Egon Schiele (1890-1918) in 1909 in Vienna. Due to trips, Harta undertook, and the outbreak of the First World War they only met more often from mid-1916. Edith and Egon Schiele also called on Mr and Mrs Harta in their Viennese apartment, located not far away from Schieles atelier in the Hietzinger Hauptstraße, whereby Schiele is likely to have painted a portrait of Eva, the couple’s daughter, on one occasion. In 1916 the fellow artists also captured each other: As the publisher of the magazine *The Action * Franz Pfemfert (1879–1954) wanted to make a booklet about Schiele, he asked the artist Harta, to draw him for this purpose – both portraits were published in the 2nd September edition. The present watercolor, probably created during the sitting dated 17th June, shows Schiele in a sports jacket with a slightly pensive downward gaze. The colorful design of the face is striking, primarily due to the use of bright green, red and yellow tones.

KJ, 2025