Egon Schiele – The Embrace (1917)

In the early twentieth century, the traditional relationship between the sexes was challenged by a number of social, economic, and philosophical changes. It was above all the incipient development towards gender equity that provoked vehement counter-arguments.
On the other hand, sexual liberation can be seen as a common goal of men and women, since they both sought to escape the restrictive moral taboos of the nineteenth century. Gustav Klimt, Egon Schiele, and Oskar Kokoschka – then the three most outstanding painters of Viennese modernism – approached the subject matter generally referred to as the ‘woman question’ from slightly different, albeit overlapping perspectives. The exhibition will present an in-depth exploration of these differences and similarities. Providing insights into the relationship between the sexes in the early twentieth centuries, the show will elaborate on the origins of a modern sexual identity.

Artist: Egon Schiele
Nationality: Austrian, 1890 – 1918
Title: The Embrace
Date Created: 1917
Location: Belvedere, Vienna, Austria
Dimensions: 100 × 170 cm (39.4 × 66.9 in)