The artwork titled “Portrait of Miss Waerndorfer” was created by the artist Egon Schiele in 1913, in Vienna, Austria. This work was done in watercolor on paper and is part of the Art Nouveau (Modern) movement. The dimensions of the piece are 48.26 x 32.39 cm, and it falls under the genre of a portrait. As of now, the artwork is housed within a private collection.
The artwork presents a young woman in a candid and informal pose. The watercolor medium is utilized with a restrained palette primarily focused on red accents and outlines on a plain background, giving the work an elegant yet expressive quality. She is adorned in a patterned blouse featuring red dots and accents, tied with a bow at the waist. The blouse’s design is distinct and playful, providing a stark contrast to the muted background and the rest of the subject’s features.
Schiele’s signature, which can be seen in the bottom right corner of the artwork, contributes to the authenticity and provenance of this piece. The subject gazes towards the viewer with a direct and engaging look, a characteristic of Schiele’s portraiture that often communicates psychological depth and character introspection. With a focus on line work and simplified color usage, Schiele captures the subject’s essence in a representation that aligns with the broader modernist endeavor to convey internal states and the complexity of human subjectivity.
