New at UMMA: Egon Schiele

Egon Schiele (1890-1918), one of the most well-known and controversial figures of Austrian Expressionism, made more than 3,000 works over the span of his short life and career. Working at the turn of the twentieth century, Schiele challenged the classical conventions of the day producing emotionally charged—often unsettling—drawings and watercolors depicting landscapes, portraits, and nudes.

Two retired U-M professors recently gifted four works of art by Schiele to UMMA. Throughout their lifetimes, Frances McSparran (English language and literature) and the late Ernst Pulgram (Romance and classical linguistics) collected over forty Austrian and German Expressionist works, donating many of them to the Museum. The three watercolors and one drawing on view in this special installation complement the couple’s previous gifts of works by Schiele and his contemporaries Oskar Kokoschka, George Grosz, and Gustav Klimt, reuniting these important works that together provide important insights into this tumultuous period in European history.