Edith Schiele with Wide-Brimmed Hat, 1917

In 1914, Egon Schiele (1890–1918) met the sisters Edith (1893–1918) and Adele Harms (1890–1968), who lived with their parents in the house opposite his studio on Hietzinger Hauptstraße. In the beginning, the artist courted both women, but ultimately chose Edith, whom he married amidst the turmoil of World War I on 17th June 1915. Always eager to be a good wife to him, Edith often modeled for the artist in his studio for drawings and paintings, as well as for photographs. Looking directly at the camera with a self-confident expression, she is wearing an all-white ensemble with a wide-brimmed hat. The same outfit can also be seen in other photographs of Edith taken at her husband’s studio, in some of them with an added fur stole, as in the shot Edith Schiele with Her Dog Lord, in the Background the Paintings “Reclining Woman” and “Girl”; the photographs were likely taken at the same time.

LVD, 2024