Weiblicher Rückenakt, die Hände auf der Hüfte. 1917 .
Black Chalk drawing.
Lower right signed and dated. With the estate stamp on the reverse. 45.8 x 29.3 cm (18 x 11.5 in), size of sheet. [CH].


• Virtuoso drawing with a poised, strong, precise and nearly uninerrupted line.
• With the graphic emphasis of arms, shoulders, back, buttocks and legs, Schiele directs the eye to very specific anatomical areas of this female nude.
• Outstanding example of Schiele's artistic development towards a more naturalistic simplification over the last two years of his creation before his early death in 1918.
• Paintings and drawings from this year, such as the drawing offered here, document Schiele's artistic focus on the hands of his subjects at the time.
• In the year 1917, the sisters Adele and Edith Harms were among Schiele's preferred models.
• The work remained in the artist's extended family until at least 1979.

PROVENANCE: Artist estate (1918, with the esatte satmp on the reverse).
Collection of Melanie Schiele Schuster (1886-1974), Vienna (the artist's sister, inherited).
Collection of Norbert Gradisch, Vienna (nephew of the above, inherited).
Wolfgang August Siedler, Vienna
Private collection Tokyo (acquired fromt the above in 1990).
Private collection Vienna (acquired from the above in 2013).

EXHIBITION: Egon Schiele, Neue Galerie, Vienna, February to March 1954.
Egon Schiele. Werke aus Familienbesitz, Niederösterreichisches Landesmuseum, Vienna, October 19 - December 30, 1979, cat. no. 55 (fig.).
Egon Schiele. Der künstlerische Nachlass, Kulturring, Kirchheim unter Teck, May 23 - June 13, 1982, cat. no. 57 (fig.).

LITERATURE: Jane Kallir, Egon Schiele. The Complete Works, New York 1990, p. 587, no. D2049 (fig.).
Jane Kallir, Egon Schiele. The Complete Works, New York 1998, p. 587, no. D2049 (fig.).

Christie's, London, Impressionist and 20th Century, Works on Paper, February 8, 2001, lot 439 (fig.).


"The artist evinces a far greater economy of line, fixing his subject in single, perfect strokes and avoiding the complicated retracing and doubling of earlier times."
Jane Kallir, in: Egon Schiele. The Complete Works, New York 1998, p. 567.

Called up: December 9, 2023 - ca. 18.08 h +/- 20 min.