Egon Schiele in Krakow
11.12.1996 - 30.01.1997
The Krakow display of the works by Egon Schiele was the artist’s first exhibition to have ever been organised in Poland. Alongside Gustav Klimt and Oskar Kokoschka, Schiele was one of the most eminent Austrian painters of the beginning of the 20th century. Arousing a number controversies among the bourgeoisie, Schiele tragically died of Spanish influenza when he was only twenty-eight years old. His works combine the decorativeness of Jugendstil with a post-expressionist manner of imagining. Schiele was a peerless master of prints, while the line – often rapacious, nervous and, hence, an unmatched means of expressing a model’s emotional states – played the most significant role in his oeuvre which comprises suggestive portraits, landscapes and female nudes characterised by powerful eroticism. Permeated with melancholy, tragedy and anxiety, the works of Schiele offer an unparalleled exemplification of a decadent and fin-de-siècle atmosphere of Vienna at the turn of the centuries.
Selected works available at the exhibition
Serge Sabarsky
Among numerous exhibitions organised by the International Cultural Centre, the presentation of some of the finest artists associated with the German and Austrian avant-garde remains of special significance. So far, the prominence has been given to the artists associated with the Vienna Secession, Expressionism and New Reality. Familiarisation with the above-mentioned phenomena is a necessary prerequisite for the proper understanding of various trends present in the world art of the 20th century. Moreover, the exhibitions have provided the Polish artists of the period with a very important international context. In 1992, the International Cultural Centre was involved in the preparation of the European Cultural Month – a series of events related to Krakow being named the European Capital of Culture. A diverse cultural programme entailed numerous exhibitions, including those of Gustav Klimt and George Grosz, as well as theatrical and music performances. In the following years, the International Cultural Centre Gallery proudly exhibited the works of Oskar Kokoschka, Egon Schiele and Emil Nolde, among others. The majority of the International Cultural Centre exhibitions were organised in cooperation with Serge Sabarsky – a world-renowned American collector of art and an expert on German art.
Egon Schiele
Serge Sabarsky
Catalogue prenets the art of another outstanding Austrian Expressionist. The publication contains colour reproductions of Schiele's 10 oil paintings and 100 drawings and watercolours as well as texts by J. Purchla, S. Sabarsky, P. Krakowski i P. Werner, which analyse many aspects of the artist's life and work.