Erotica

The Pornographic World of Egon Schiele’s Nudes (NSFW)

Zuzanna Stańska 19 October 2023 min Read

Egon Schiele’s nudes can challenge us and our preconceptions of the artistic tradition of the “nude”. He didn’t paint or draw idealized goddesses. He preferred to present female and male genitalia in full light. Many of the female nudes remind one of pornographic images and include props, such as stockings, typically associated with prostitution. Schiele often asked sex workers to model for him but he also portrayed other women that were close to him. You can’t escape the palpable eroticism of his work which is often truly explicit.

Schiele lead a bohemian life in the early 20th century Viennese café culture inhabited by radical intellectuals who asked questions about sex, desire, death, and the true nature of humanity. Sigmund Freud’s The Interpretation of Dreams was also published in 1899. Against this background, Schiele looks to reveal the hypocrisy of the bourgeoisie and the reality of the human condition. The artist produced some of the most radical depictions of the human figure created in modern times – so radical that in 1912 he was imprisoned for two months for exhibiting his “offensive” nudes.

Below you will find a gallery of some of the hundreds of nudes he created in his short life.

1. Standing Nude in Red Jacket

Standing Nude in Red Jacket (1913) by Egon Schiele (Private Collection
Egon Schiele, Standing Nude in Red Jacket, 1913, private collection. Pinterest.

2. Black-Haired Nude Girl Standing

Black-Haired-Nude-Girl-Standing-Egon-Schiele-1910, Courtauld Gallery
Egon-Schiele, Black-Haired Nude Girl Standing, 1910, Courtauld Gallery, London, UK.

3. Reclining Female Nude with Legs Spread Apart

Reclining_Female_Nude_with_Legs_Spread_Apart_1914_Kallir_D._1484_Albertina
Egon Schiele, Reclining Female Nude with Legs Spread Apart, 1914, Albertina, Vienna, Austria.

4. Seated Female Nude with Black Stockings

nudes, Egon Schiele, Seated Female Nude with Black Stockings, 1910, private collection
Egon Schiele, Seated Female Nude with Black Stockings, 1910, private collection. Wikimedia Commons (public domain).

5. Blonde Nude Model Sitting on Brownish-Blue Cloth

nudes Egon Schiele, Blonde Nude Model Sitting on Brownish-Blue Cloth, 1912, Albertina, Vienna. 
Egon Schiele, Blonde Nude Model Sitting on Brownish-Blue Cloth, 1912, Albertina, Vienna, Austria.

6. Two Girls Lying Entwined

Two_Girls_Lying_Entwined_1915_Kallir_D._1743_Albertina
Egon Schiele, Two Girls Lying Entwined, 1915, Albertina, Vienna, Austria.

7. Kneeling Semi-Nude

Kneeling Semi-Nude, 1917 Private Collection
Egon Schiele, Kneeling Semi-Nude, 1917, private collection. Wikimedia Commons (public domain).

8. Sitting Female Nude with Yellow Blanket

nudes Egon Schiele, Sitting Female Nude with Yellow Blanket, 1910, private collection
Egon Schiele, Sitting Female Nude with Yellow Blanket, 1910, private collection. Wikimedia Commons (public domain).

9. Girl with the Green Stockings

640px-Egon_Schiele_-_Mädchen_mit_grünen_Strümpfen_-_1914, private collection
Egon Schiele, Girl with the Green Stockings, 1916, private collection. Wikimedia Commons (public domain).

10. Crouching Female Nude with Bending Head

Schiele_-_Kauerndes_Mädchen_mit_gesenktem_Kopf_-_1918
Egon Schiele, Crouching Female Nude with Bending Head, 1918, private collection. Wikimedia Commons (public domain).

11. Red-Head Girl in Black Dress with Spreaded Legs

nudes Egon Schiele, Red-Head Girl in Black Dress with Spreaded Legs, 1910, Leopold Museum
Egon Schiele, Red-Head Girl in Black Dress with Spreaded Legs, 1910, Leopold Museum, Vienna, Austria.

12. Crouching Woman with Green Kerchief

4-Crouching_Woman_with_green_kerchief
Egon Schiele, Crouching Woman with Green Kerchief, 1914, Leopold Museum, Vienna, Austria.

13. Two Girls Embracing (Two Friends)

Egon Schiele, Two Girls Embracing (Two Friends), 1915, Museum of Fine Arts, Budapest
Egon Schiele, Two Girls Embracing (Two Friends), 1915, Museum of Fine Arts, Budapest, Hungary.

14. Lying Woman

Egon Schiele, Lying Women, 1917, Leopold Museum
Egon Schiele, Lying Woman, 1917, Leopold Museum, Vienna, Austria.

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