From Masks to Modernism

The Theater as a Nucleus of Early Viennese Expressionism

Abstract

Egon Schiele produced his first Expressionist work in 1910. Portraits and selfportraits turn their dramatic countenances toward the viewer. The origins of these vivid facial expressions and gestures have been a focus of Schiele scholars for half a century. The key question is whether the artist’s objective in creating these works was to depict an inner truth that goes beyond the facade of his subjects. This research article suggests that theatrical phenomena provided a stimulus for Schiele’s early Expressionism. I focus on the ubiquitous presence of the theatrical in the lives of a young generation of artists at the beginning of the 20th century in Vienna. In this context, the central source of inspiration for Schiele’s art was his friend, the artist Erwin Osen. Osen was brought up on the theater; his appearance, his range as a universal artist, and his (fictional) journeys made a lasting impression on Schiele. At the same time, Schiele was deceived and disappointed by Osen. For Schiele, the mask becomes the symbol for deception but also the medium for a new reality that is borrowed from the performing arts, and it dominates his portraits and self-portraits from 1910.