Schiele, Egon (1890-1918)
Crouching human couple / The Family (Kauerndes Menschenpaar / Die Familie)
1918
Oil on canvas, 150 × 160.8 cm
Österreichische Galerie Belvedere, Vienna
A man and a woman, both naked, crouch in the darkness of a room. A child peeks out from between the woman’s legs. The man, with his alert gaze, has Schiele‘s facial features and crouches protectively behind the two. His bony body contrasts with the soft curves of the woman, who looks slightly downwards, lost in thought. The two bodies appear isolated despite being very close together. Schiele‘s own family was never meant to exist. His wife Edith died of Spanish flu in the sixth month of her pregnancy on October 28, 1918, and the artist just three days later. The art critic Berta Zuckerkandl then used the title “The Family” for the first time for Crouching Human Couple. (Belvedere)
See also:
• Schiele, Edith (1893-1918)