Around 1900, the most popular periodical for visual art, giving an entire style its name, was
Jugend – Münchner illustrierte Wochenschrift für Kunst und Leben [“Youth – Munich Illustrated Weekly for Art and Life”], published between 1896 and 1940. The illustrations in the magazine, which also ran satirical and critical texts, were direct commissions from the editors or reproductions of existing works. Among the artists featured prominently in
Jugend were Ferdinand Hodler (1853–1918), Lovis Corinth (1858–1925), or Marie Schnür (1869–1934).
Seventeen-year-old Egon Schiele (1890–1918) noted in his cover design – never published by the magazine – in large red letters the magazine title and the year while leaving the issue number open: “JUGEND | 1907. №”. He portrayed the young girl in profile with her head slightly bowed. From under a slightly cocked eyebrow, she is looking upward from the corner of her eye, outside the picture. Her hair is loosely tied together with a pale violet scarf, the sleeve of her blouse of the same color is pushed up; the fingers, resting on her elbow, suggest a pose of folded arms. The design is executed in full detail and – unlike most of Schiele’s later work on paper – fully colored.
SH, 2021
