Egon Schiele’s Self-portrait With Raised Right Elbow is a remarkable work of Expressionist art, created in 1914 in Vienna, Austria. The portrait perfectly showcases Schiele’s peculiar style and features the artist staring wildly with large, dark eyes and an open mouth. The pose he strikes is suggestive of Christ on the cross. The color scheme of the painting is primarily brown, but specific areas of the body have been tinted red for effect. This self-portrait portrays Schiele as a nude figure showcasing his psyche to the viewer.
Schiele’s self-portraits were unprecedented in Western art because they often contained erotic elements juxtaposed against a naked expression of self that only revealed itself through these portraits. As Gustav Klimt’s protégé, a famous Austrian symbolist painter, Egon had developed unique traits at a young age that would turn him into one of the most poignant figurative painters globally. He idolized Klimt when he was younger and revered him much as every teenager idolizes its heroes.
He painted this portrait during his early twenties when he was obsessed with self-expression to showcase various aspects of himself visually such as internal anxieties, sexuality-related concerns and fear of death issues.For instance, several full-figure paintings more explicitly illustrate emotional turmoil that occurred naturally within himself at times.Schiele knew how to emit passion from colors and lines so any observer could read deep into what they meant psychologically about the image portrayed.To sum up Egon Schiele was considered by many who viewed his work as controversial due to its sexually charged elements mixed with so much raw definition giving insights into thoughts lingering beyond sight.
