Egon Schiele:
Nude Bent Forward (Nach vorne gebeugter Akt), 1917
Black crayon on paper
38.7 × 28.5 cm
Auctioned at im Kinsky, Vienna, December 2020 (€140,000)
(Kallir, forthcoming digital supplement, D 2057b)

This drawing, executed in 1917, shows Schiele’s line at its most distilled. The figure bends forward, spine curved, arms loose, head lowered — a posture of quiet exposure. Rendered in black crayon, the body is reduced to contour and rhythm, with no background or modeling, only the stark immediacy of gesture.

The head is adorned with a floral or wreath-like element, a rare touch of softness in an otherwise austere composition. It lends the figure a ceremonial stillness, as if the act of bending forward were both physical and symbolic.

The sheet was not yet included in Jane Kallir’s published catalogue raisonné, but she has examined the original and confirmed that, in her opinion, the drawing, signature, and date are by Schiele’s hand. It will appear in the forthcoming digital supplement.

Auctioned at im Kinsky in December 2020 the drawing reflects continued market recognition of Schiele’s late works on paper. Its provenance and scholarly validation underscore its place within the documented corpus.

Stylistically, Nude Bent Forward belongs to Schiele’s final year of production, when his draftsmanship reached a heightened clarity. The body is pared down to essentials: no ornament, no setting, only the tension of the pose. It resonates with other 1917 figure studies where Schiele explored contraction and exposure as metaphors for fragility.

Created during a period of artistic refinement and emotional restraint, the drawing carries the quiet urgency of Schiele’s late style. The body, bent and adorned, becomes both subject and symbol — a vessel of stillness, strain, and inward collapse.