Egon Schiele Budweis gate in Cesky Krumlov oil on cardboard 1908

“A tempestuous talent stands out whose landscape impressions, painted with great coloristic energy and graphic verve, are a tour de force. A promising young talent, Schiele.” These words could be read in the “Österreichische Volkszeitung” 1) in 1908 when the eighteen-year-old Egon Schiele first presented his works in public.
The exhibition “Junge Kunst im Stift” at the Augustinian abbey in Klosterneuburg included ten works by Egon Schiele. It was the same year as the Kunstschau featured the work of Oskar Kokoschka and Gustav Klimt. Schiele could study these in the original for the first time and this significantly contributed to the development of his style.

This painting can also be attributed to the year 1908, so pivotal for Egon Schiele’s artistic development. It shows the Budweis Gate in Krumau (Český Krumlov), his mother’s hometown. The artist has modelled the view with broad impasto brushstrokes and used a reduced palette in which shades of purple predominate. In some places he deliberately left the brown of the board exposed, adding a sense of lightness to the painting. This early work demonstrates Egon Schiele’s remarkable feel for form and color.

1) Österreichische Volkszeitung, 14 May 1908