Egon Schiele, 1890-1918: Desire and Decay (Midsize) (Spanish Edition) [Paperback]

Wolfgang Georg Fischer (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1, 2004 | ISBN-10: 3822834904 | ISBN-13: 978-3822834909

Hindering the artist is a crime," wrote Egon Schiele (1890-1918) while in prison for disseminating immoral drawings. Throughout his work sounded notes of defiance, provocation, and rebellion. Schiele's favourite subjects were female nudes and self-portraits, and he worked at his art with furious commitment, though it was not till shortly before his premature death that he began to win real recognition. Today he is seen as one of the most important of the Austrian artists to come after Klimt. This study examines Schiele's life and work via his major oil paintings and erotic drawings.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Art cannot be modern. Art is primordially eternal." Egon Schiele.

About the Author

Wolfgang Georg Fischer is an art historian, writer and art dealer. Ever since first exhibiting Egon Schiele in 1964, he has devoted his attention to classical Viennese Modernism, chiefly Schiele, Kokoschka, and Klimt, regularly showing their works at his London gallery, Fischer Fine Art, and contributing with numerous publications to the art-historical literature. He also contributed to the catalogue raisonne of Schiele's work and has written a monograph on Klimt's partner, fashion designer Emilie Floge. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 200 pages
• Publisher: Taschen (June 1, 2004)
• Language: Spanish
• ISBN-10: 3822834904
• ISBN-13: 978-3822834909
• Product Dimensions: 9.7 x 8 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,629,643 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #42 in Books > Libros en español > Arte, arquitectura y fotografía > Arte > Pintura

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great reproductions with helpful commentary and biographical information., December 17, 2007

By 

Steward Willons (Illinois) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Egon Schiele: 1890-1918: Desire and Decay (Taschen 25th Anniversary Series) (Hardcover)

This is another welcome addition to Taschen's 25th Anniversary Series of large, hardcover collections. You get excellent reproductions of many of Egon Schiele's finest work along with Wolfgang Georg Fischer's expert commentary.

Besides the works themselves, I found the most valuable part of the book to be the historical and biographical information. Fischer gives the necessary perspective with which to view Schiele's sometimes difficult work without being excessively wordy or academic. I love academic writing as much as anyone, but I think the intended audience here is not going to want to wade through pages of theoretical discourse.

In addition to the paintings, there are some photographs of Schiele, his family, and his colleagues. After looking at his numerous self-portraits and (especially) the paintings of his wife, it's fascinating to see photographs of them in a casual context.

Schiele's style may not appeal to everyone, but this book is an excellent place to begin your appreciation, especially at Taschen's extremely low price. When you look at all the $3-12k limited edition books they release, it's nice that they remember that poor college students enjoy great art books too!

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Desire and Decay: The Essence of Egon Schiele, July 19, 2009

By 

Grady Harp (Los Angeles, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Egon Schiele: 1890-1918: Desire and Decay (Taschen 25th Anniversary Series) (Hardcover)

Though originally released in 1998 as a fine monograph by Wolfgang Georg Fischer, SCHIELE is in its present form part of the Taschen 25th Anniversary editions. And in keeping with the quality of Taschen artist monographs this edition is presented on very fine paper with excellent reproductions of Schiele's works as well as a number of photographs of the artist, his family, his models, and his confreres.

Fischer weaves the too brief history of this gifted artist (he died in 1918 at age 28 from the Spanish Influenza) with references to the art of the period at the turn of the century, carefully keeping Schiele in focus with the famous people of the era - artists and writers and statesmen - in as fine a manner as any writer of Schiele biographers.

Many of Schiele's very large paintings are diminished to near postage stamp size, likely due to the overt sexuality of the paintings, while Schiele's landscapes and less controversial paintings are given full-page reproductions. But this is a small flaw in a survey book that informs as well as entertains. Well worth the modest price, even for those who have multiple books detailing this important artist's life and times and work. Grady Harp, July 09

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Schiele, Egon Art Book, January 24, 2010

By 

P. Martinez "Peter" (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Egon Schiele: 1890-1918: Desire and Decay (Taschen 25th Anniversary Series) (Hardcover)

This book is filled with very nicely painted human figures.This book pretty much shows how Egon developed his own style. His distorted human figures are so interesting to look at. His color palette is very interesting and his choice of drawing the human figure different from the norm is clever. This book does not disappoint and gives you an inside of Egon's life as an artist and student. Worth buying and you might find it for a better price at Barns & Nobel.