Egon Schiele's Dead Mother Series
The
Expressionist Austrian painter, Egon Schiele, was a modern figurative painter
who was highly influenced by Gustav Klimt. The artist unfortunately lived a
short and tragic life, dying in the worldwide influenza epidemic of 1918, but
during that lifetime he produced many drawings and self-portraits that rank
among his supreme achievements, which range from “self-revelatory documents of
personal anguish to records of a highly self conscious youthful bravado.” His
art is known for its intensity, and twisted body shaped that are a notable
exponent of Expressionism. A huge chunk of his art works can be described as
erotic, sexual, and even pornographic.
“even the erotic work of art is sacred!” –Egon
Schiele
Although
he did create many controversial images, he also created some works of art that
paralleled with his own relationship with his mother. Schiele resented his
mother because he believed that she did not sufficiently mourn for his father’s
death, whom he had a close bond with. He also felt that his mother did not give
him the attention he deserved:
 |
| Dead Mother I |
“My
mother is a very strange woman ... She doesn't understand me in the least and
doesn't love me much either. If she had either love or understanding she would
be prepared to make sacrifices.”
In
Dead Mother I and Mother and Child, from Schiele’s dead
mother series, through
the use of Freud’s Psychoanalysis theory, we are able to parallel these
paintings with Schiele’s perspective on his relationship with his own mother.
In
Dead Mother I, there is a lifeless
mother holding on to her healthy baby. The infant, with his eyes gleaming with
light, is surrounded by his pale, depressed looking mother, who is holding him
tight with no joy. In Mother
and Child, you can see the fear and anxiety that appears in the child’s
face, while the mother holds the baby tightly, maybe even too tight. In both
works, the adolescent seems to be trapped by the lifeless mother.
.jpg) |
| Mother and Child |
According to “The Dead Mother Series of Egon Schiele:
psychoanalytic use of an artist's image” by Prudence L. Gourguechon, he comes
to the understanding that Schiele is trying to display to issues he is
concerned with; 1) Separation from an engulfing mother depicted by progressive
physical distance and autonomy; 2) the experience of having a mother who is
giving death rather than nurturing.
If
you want to know more about the life of Egon Schiele, the provocative film Excess and Punishment depicts somewhat
of the strange life of Schiele. It shows the relationship between the artist
and the model, some aspects of his tragic life, and the obsessions that Schiele
had. The movie is not rated, but be aware that it will display a lot of provocative images (such as nudity and sexual content).
Sources:
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