Sotheby's London To Offer One of the Most Important Groups of Works on Paper by Egon Schiele Ever to Come Auction

On 5 February 2013, Sotheby’s London will offer for sale as part of its Impressionist & Modern Art Evening Sale one of the most important groups of works on paper by Egon Schiele ever to come to the market. The drawings come to auction from the Leopold Museum in Vienna and carry a combined estimate of $14.3/19.1 million (£9-12 million).

The three works span a critical period of the artist’s output (1914-1917), each of them demonstrating the impeccable draughtsmanship for which Schiele is renowned. The first, Liebespaar (Selbstdarstellung mit Wally) / Lovers (Self-portrait with Wally) of 1914/15 is a transfixing double portrait of the artist with Wally - the artist's model and lover - and displays the deep poignancy of the point in their relationship at which the work was executed (est. $10.4/13.5 million (£6.5/8.5 million). Selbstdarstellung in grünem Hemd mit geschlossenen Augen / Self-Portrait in Green Shirt with Eyes Closed is an electrifying self-portrait, dating from the same period as the Liebespaar, and is estimated at $2.9/4 million (£1.8-2.5 million). The third work in the group to be offered, Am Rücken liegendes Mädchen mit überkreuzten Armen und Beinen / Girl Lying on her Back with Crossed Arms and Legs, is one of the artist’s last works (executed in 1918) and is estimated at $1.1/1.6 million (£700,000-1 million). It belongs to a series of line drawings of semi-nude female figures which combine a strong sexuality with a novel sense of perspective that is particular to the artist’s final works. Together the three exceptional works provide a remarkable overview of the breadth of style, technique and composition that characterises Schiele’s best work.

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