Copyright This work is in the public domain. Egon Schiele died in 1918; copyright lasts 70 years after the artist’s death, so it ended in 1988.
In context
Moa — Egon Schiele
Row above: the years. Row below: how old the artist was at the start and at the end of each span — 0 at birth, 28 at death.
Painted when the artist was 21. The artist lived to 28. 102 of the 340 dated works by this artist in our catalogue came earlier.
Shaded: the lifetime of Egon Schiele (1890–1918) ▲ this work, 1911 every dated painting, decade by decade
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Measured from the image
Main colour
Midnight Blue #37305a
Catalogued palette
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Together these works take 37.2% of all the attention this artist's paintings received over the last twelve months. The catalogue holds 649 works by this artist, of which 477 were looked at at least once. This painting ranks 280 of them, with 0.1% of that attention (300 visits). The same counts, month by month
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About this artwork
Moa — Egon Schiele
The artwork titled Moa was created by the Austrian artist Egon Schiele in 1911. This work is a portrait of a specific individual known as Moa, who was a dancer and a friend of the artist. The subject is depicted within a composition that focuses on the figure of the dancer.
The subject, Moa, performed in cabarets alongside her dance partner, Erwin Osen. Both individuals were models for Schiele during the period between 1910 and 1911. In this specific piece, the dancer is shown enveloped in textiles that feature geometric patterns. The figure is rendered using a combination of pencil, watercolor, and opaque color on paper.
The composition centers on a female figure positioned with her arms crossed over her chest. She is enveloped in a blue dress characterized by an austere and geometrical design. These richly colored textiles completely conceal the majority of her body, though the garment's structure suggests she is naked underneath. The subject's face is framed by black hair, and her eyes are rendered with bold expression.
Color is applied with specific intent to the visible anatomy. The woman's body is painted in shades of red and blue. These hues contrast against the patterned drapery of the garment. The geometric abstraction of the textile design creates a sense of fragmentation across the figure. The arrangement of these elements focuses attention on the tension between the patterned clothing and the exposed skin of the face and limbs.
This work is categorized as a drawing executed on paper. The artist utilized a combination of pencil, watercolor, and opaque color to build the composition. The application of medium involves loose, gestural washes that create a sense of movement and mystery across the surface. These washes interact with the more controlled elements of the piece to establish depth and texture.
The technical execution relies on the interplay between the sharp, defined lines of the pencil and the fluid nature of the watercolor. The use of opaque color allows for specific areas of saturation that contrast with the lighter, more transparent sections of the paper. This layering of materials contributes to the structural complexity of the figure and the surrounding textiles.
The work belongs to the Expressionist movement, a style defined by its focus on intense and emotive representation. This piece specifically demonstrates an Expressionist style through its use of bold lines and a focus on textiles. The composition utilizes these elements to establish a sense of movement and graphic tension. The subject is rendered with an emphasis on the physical form through these sharp, decisive contours.
The piece is also associated with a transition from Jugendstil into Modernism. This stylistic shift is visible in the way the artist moves away from the decorative, ornamental patterns of the Secessionist era. Instead of the gilded surfaces found in earlier works, this work employs geometric abstraction and flattened perspectives. The drapery features angular blocks of color and a structured, geometric design that contrasts with the more organic rendering of the figure's face.
The visual language of the work relies on a specific tension between different modes of representation. While the face is rendered with a degree of anatomical realism, the surrounding garment is treated with abstraction. This approach highlights the transition from the decorative traditions of the late 19th century toward the more raw, stripped-back aesthetics of early 20th-century Expressionism. The use of loose, gestural washes alongside sharp, angular geometries creates a rhythmic quality within the composition.
The original watercolor and pencil work titled Moa is held within the permanent collection of the Leopold Museum in Vienna, Austria. This institution maintains the physical preservation of the piece, which is identified by the inventory number LM 2310. The rights to the artwork belong to the Leopold Museum, Vienna.
Visitors seeking to observe this specific 1911 composition can find it on display at the museum's facilities in Vienna. The museum provides the necessary environment for the conservation of the paper and the pigments used in the work. The piece remains part of the museum's curated holdings.
Artist and museum
Born in Tulln an der Donau, Austria
Tulln, Lower Austria, provides the setting for the beginning of Egon Schiele’s life. Born on 12 June 1890, he enters a world defined by the rigid structures of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. His father, Adolf Schiele, manages the local station as the station master for the Austrian Federal Railways. His mother, Marie, is known by her maiden name, Soukup. Within the family, Egon grows alongside his three sisters: Elvira, Melanie, and Gertrude.
The stability of this domestic life fractures early. The shadow of illness moves through the household, leaving a permanent mark on the young artist's psyche. These personal disruptions do not merely pass; they settle into the marrow of his future work. He moves through the world with a sensitivity to mortality that will eventually define his place in Austrian Expressionism. His existence becomes a struggle to translate internal tension onto the surface of the canvas.
His path leads him toward the center of a shifting European landscape. He navigates the tension between traditional academic expectations and a burgeoning need for raw, psychological truth. The life of Egon Schiele is a series of intense, often uncomfortable confrontations with the human condition. He does not seek to depict the world as it appears to the eye, but as it vibrates within the nervous system.
The stability of Schiele's youth fractures in 1904. His father, Adolf Schiele, a station master, succumbs to syphilis. This illness, contracted during a honeymoon in Trieste, leaves the family impoverished and the young artist's psyche marked by the shadow of his father's mental confusion and rage. Egon grows up alongside his three sisters, Elvira, Melanie, and Gertrude, under the guardianship of his uncle-in-law, Leopold Czihaczek. Even in these turbulent years, a fascination with trains persists, a motif that would later surface in his work.
Formal training begins under the guidance of tutor Ludwig Karl Strauch. By 1906, Schiele moves to Vienna to study at the Academy of Fine Arts (Akademie der bildenden Künste). The atmosphere is rigid. He finds himself increasingly at odds with the ultra-conservative teaching of Professor Christian Griepenkerl. The friction becomes unsustainable. After three years of navigating these strict academic traditions, Schiele abandons the Academy altogether to forge an independent path.
A shift occurs when he encounters Gustav Klimt. The established artist becomes a mentor, providing the young painter with models and introducing him to the circles of the Vienna Secession. This connection marks the transition from a student struggling against tradition to a central figure in the burgeoning avant-garde.
Vienna becomes the center of Schiele's creative friction. He moves through the city's artistic circles, eventually meeting Gustav Klimt. This encounter marks a significant shift in his trajectory. While he absorbs the influence of his mentor, Schiele does not simply replicate the decorative patterns of the Secession. Instead, he begins to strip away the ornamentation. He seeks a more visceral truth. By 1909, he is actively challenging the established order, co-founding the Neues Wiener Kunstgruppe and the Neukunstgruppe. These movements signal his break from tradition.
His presence in the city is marked by a restless movement between urban centers and quieter outskirts. He works across Vienna, Krems, Klosterneuburg, Neulengbach, and Prague. This geographic spread mirrors a psychological expansion. His art moves from the formal constraints of his early training toward a raw, unshielded exploration of the human condition. The tension of the era is visible in his evolving sketches and compositions.
Portrait of Leopold Czihaczek, 1907
Portrait of the Art Critic, Arthur Roessler, 1910
Composition with Three Male Nudes, 1910
The line is the primary engine of Schiele’s vision. It does not merely outline a form; it vibrates with a nervous, restless energy. He employs expressive lines to map out psychological tension, often resulting in contorted poses and twisted body shapes. Figures appear elongated, their limbs stretched beyond natural proportions to convey a sense of unease. This is not a pursuit of anatomical perfection but an attempt to expose the internal state of the subject. Skin tones often appear emaciated or sickly-coloured, emphasizing a sense of fragility and physical vulnerability.
His technical approach varies by medium, yet the intensity remains constant. In his watercolors, he utilizes loose washes of color to create depth and mood, often leaving much of the paper bare to heighten the sense of isolation. When working in oil on canvas, the brushwork carries the same jagged urgency found in his drawings. Beyond the two-dimensional plane, he also explored form through sculpture, working in clay and plaster to capture the weight of the human presence.
Self-Portrait with Black Vase and Spread Fingers
The Family
The canvas becomes a site of psychological excavation. Schiele confronts the heavy presence of death, sexuality, anxiety, and isolation through a lens of unflinching honesty. In 1915, he produces Death and the Maiden, a work where the presence of mortality intersects with eros. The figures exist in a state of tension, reflecting the internal struggles that define his vision. He often returns to the human form to map these invisible states, using the body as a vessel for the complexities of existence.
Self-portraiture acts as a recurring method of introspection. He does not seek to present a polished image but rather a vulnerable one, often appearing in contorted or emaciated states. In Self-Portrait with Physalis, he utilizes the Physalis plant as a recurring motif. The plant, with its delicate and papery husk, symbolizes transience and the fragility of life. This botanical element anchors his preoccupation with decay and the fleeting nature of the human condition.
His intimate connections also find their way into his compositions. In 1915, he paints Portrait of Edith Schiele, capturing his wife in a way that reflects his specific expressive language. His subjects are rarely static; they pulse with a nervous energy that mirrors the shifting social and psychological landscapes of the era. The following works represent significant points in his exploration of these themes:
Death and the Maiden (1915)
Self-Portrait with Physalis
Portrait of Edith Schiele (1915)
The landscape of Schiele's life shifts as the First World War approaches. He marries Edith Harms, a union that marks a significant personal transition. However, the stability of marriage is quickly interrupted by the demands of the conflict. He is drafted into military service, a period that places him within the chaos of the war's reach.
The end arrives with sudden, biological ferocity. In 1918, the Spanish flu pandemic sweeps through Vienna. The virus claims Schiele at the age of 28. He dies on 31 October 1918. His passing occurs shortly after the death of his wife, Edith, who succumbed to the same disease. The artist's life ends abruptly, leaving behind a body of work that captures the tension of a world in collapse.
Schiele emerges from the early 20th century as a leading figure in Austrian Expressionism. His departure from the decorative gold of the Secession movement toward a more visceral, psychological exploration of the human form changed the trajectory of figurative painting. He stripped away the surface to map the nervous system, using jagged, restless lines to capture the tremors of anxiety and desire. This focus on the internal landscape rather than idealized beauty established him as a major figurative painter of the era.
The impact of his work extends far beyond the borders of Vienna. Subsequent generations of artists find a precedent in his radical honesty, particularly those drawn to the darker, more complex layers of the human psyche. His ability to translate personal trauma and existential tension into a universal visual language ensures his presence in the discourse of modern art. Today, his paintings are held in major museum collections worldwide, preserved as essential records of the psychological shifts of his time.
Self-Portrait with Physalis
Couple Embracing
Field Landscape (Kreuzberg near Krumau)
The weight of Schiele’s output is felt most heavily in Vienna. The Leopold Museum holds a vast concentration of his works, preserving the raw energy of his sketches and paintings. Nearby, the Österreichische Galerie Belvedere houses significant canvases, including Death and the Maiden (1915). The city’s institutional landscape continues to guard his legacy through the Kunsthistorisches Museum and the Albertina, both of which contain essential pieces of his oeuvre.
Beyond the Austrian capital, the Egon Schiele Art Centrum in Český Krumlov, Czech Republic, offers a dedicated space for his work. This museum traces his evolution through a permanent collection that includes watercolors and ink drawings. Visitors can encounter the specific intensity of his linework in this setting, which focuses on the development of his expressive style.
Death and the Maiden (1915)
Self-Portrait with Physalis
Couple Embracing
The Family
Study it on your own wall: Moa by Egon Schiele as a hand-painted oil edition, made to your size
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Art quiz
Moa — Egon Schiele
Tick one answer for each of the 5 questions below. Each has exactly one correct answer.
1. What artistic movement is Egon Schiele’s ‘Moa’ primarily associated with?
2. The painting depicts a dancer named Moa. What is notable about her pose and attire?
3. What stylistic element distinguishes Schiele’s ‘Moa’ from the work of Klimt?
4. In what year was Egon Schiele's ‘Moa’ created?
5. What is the primary emotion conveyed by Schiele’s depiction of Moa's gaze?
My score: ____ out of 5
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1C · 2B · 3C · 4C · 5C
Check any answer against the catalogue record for this painting
For art students and researchers
Moa — Egon Schiele
Answer in your own words. There are no wrong answers here — only answers you can explain.
Write a short paragraph about this artwork. Use the facts from the earlier parts of this guide, and your answers above.
Within Egon Schiele's career, "Moa" falls in the Mature Period. The phase helps compare it with the artist's other works.
"Moa" is bright overall, and its luminance is bright balance.
"Moa" was created by Egon Schiele. The information on this page describes Egon Schiele's original work.
The contrast level of "Moa" by Egon Schiele is statement.
The copyright answer for "Moa" by Egon Schiele: the work is in the public domain - its copyright has expired. This determines whether reproductions of the image may be freely made.