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ONLINECOLLECTION

“Moa”, 1911

Leopold Museum,
Vienna
Pencil, watercolor, opaque color on paper
47.8×31.5 cm

Artists

  • Egon Schiele

    (Tulln 1890–1918 Vienna)

Unfortunately not on display at the moment
According to contemporary witnesses, the dancer Moa Mandu, about whom not many specifics are known except for her Bosnian origins, came in contact with Egon Schiele (1890—1918) through Erwin Osen (1891—1970). This led to a whole series of portraits of the dancer, whom Schiele, unlike many of his models, identified by name with the designation “MOA,” written in capitals next to the figure. One of the best of these portraits in terms of composition and coloring is in the collection of the Leopold Museum today. In cloisonné-like abstraction, the body of the dress extends across almost the entire height of the picture space. The pent-up, literally veiled expression of the body finally erupts with full force through the subject’s eyes. In his memoir of Schiele, Erinnerungen an Egon Schiele, Arthur Roessler (1877—1955) uses many attributes to describe the “almost blank, large, jet-black eyes, wistfully gleaming from under brown-blue shaded, long-lashed, and overly heavy eyelids” of Osen’s companion as the central aspect of her physical appearance – an assessment impressively confirmed by Schiele in his portrait culminating in the subject’s gaze.

Object data

Artist/author
  • Egon Schiele
Title
“Moa”
Date
1911
Art movement
Expressionism
Category
Graphic work
Material​/technique
Pencil, watercolor, opaque color on paper
Dimensions
47.8×31.5 cm
Signature
Signed and dated center right: EGON SCHIELE 1911.; designated lower right: MOA
Credit line
Leopold Museum, Vienna, Inv. 2310
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.
  • Egon Schiele. Melancholie und Provokation, hrsg. von Elisabeth/Diethard Leopold, Wien 2011 (Ausst.-Kat. Leopold Museum, Wien, 23.09.2011–19.04.2012).
  • Verborgene Schätze der österreichischen Aquarellmalerei, hrsg. von Rudolf Leopold/Franz Smola, Wien 2010 (Ausst.-Kat. Leopold Museum, Wien 05.03.2010-24.05.2010).
  • Der Lyriker Egon Schiele. Briefe und Gedichte 1910–1912 aus der Sammlung Leopold, hrsg. von Rudolf Leopold/Elisabeth Leopold, München 2008.
  • 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: D90
  • Leopold 1972/2020: Taf. 78
Keywords

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Provenance

Provenance research
Leopold Museum i

Lea Bondy Jaray, Wien /London (o.D.); (1)
Dr. Rudolf Leopold, Wien (vor 1955-1994); (2)
Leopold Museum-Privatstiftung, Wien (1994).

  1. Sonja Niederacher, Egon Schiele. „Moa“, Dossier vom 31.12.2014, S. 5;
  2. Archiv des Leopold Museums, Schriftliche Auskunft von Dr. Rudolf Leopold vom 01.02.2009; Diethard Leopold, Rudolf Leopold – Kunstsammler, Wien 2003, S. 270f.
Decision of the Advisory Board (PDF)

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