Portrait of Wally Neuzil

Egon Schiele

Oil on panel

Leopold Museum

This intimate Expressionist portrait depicts Walburga "Wally" Neuzil — Schiele's lover and muse — in a horizontal half-length composition, her head slightly inclined, auburn hair loosely framing her face, and her striking oversized blue eyes gazing directly and unflinchingly at the viewer. Schiele masterfully employs geometric shapes and a harmonious yet electric palette of contrasting oranges and blues, whites and blacks, and reds and greens, creating a work that simultaneously radiates tenderness and psychological intensity. Egon Schiele (1890–1918) was a precociously gifted Austrian Expressionist who trained under the influence of Gustav Klimt and went on to redefine portraiture with his raw, emotionally charged line work and distorted forms. Considered one of the most iconic works of early 20th-century Austrian art — even dubbed the "Mona Lisa of Austria" — this painting carries a dramatic and deeply human provenance story, having been looted by Nazis, lost for decades, and finally returned to public view after a landmark $19 million legal settlement in 2010, making it a centerpiece of the Leopold Museum in Vienna.