Egon Schiele:
Girl Putting on Shoe (Schuhe anziehendes Mädchen), 1910
Watercolor and charcoal on paper
36.7 × 31.6 cm
MoMA, New York (until September 2023)
(Kallir d475)

This drawing shows a young girl in the simple act of putting on her shoe. Schiele’s line is sharp and searching, while the watercolor wash softens the figure, giving her a fragile presence. Jane Kallir has pointed out that the paint handling feels unusual for Schiele, suggesting he was still experimenting with materials and effects in 1910, a year when his style was shifting rapidly.

The choice of subject is typical of Schiele’s interest in everyday, unguarded gestures. Rather than idealized poses, he often captured moments of concentration or vulnerability, turning ordinary acts into studies of human presence.

The sheet also carries a difficult history. It once belonged to Fritz Grünbaum, the Austrian-Jewish cabaret performer and collector who was murdered in Dachau in 1941. His collection of more than 80 Schiele works was seized by the Nazis and dispersed. Many resurfaced in New York decades later, often without clear provenance.

In recent years, renewed research and legal action brought these works back into focus. The Manhattan District Attorney’s Office investigated their history, and institutions including MoMA and the Morgan Library & Museum returned Schiele drawings once their origins were confirmed. Girl Putting on Shoe was restituted to Grünbaum’s heirs in September 2023, closing a long chapter of displacement.

Today, the drawing can be seen both as an early experiment in Schiele’s evolving style and as a reminder of the fragile paths artworks travel—where a quiet gesture on paper intersects with the larger story of loss and restitution.