Читать книгу Egon Schiele - Esther Selsdon - Страница 7

In 1907, Schiele made the acquaintance of Gustav Klimt (1862–1918), who became his father figure and generously supported the talent of the young genius for the rest of his life. They exchanged drawings with one another and Klimt even modelled for Schiele. In his career, Klimt profited from the large volume of commissioned work, such as the 34.14-metre-long Beethovenfries created for the faculty. Nevertheless, he ran into misunderstanding about the central motif of a nude couple embracing from his contemporaries. Criticism of Klimt became more vehement when the periodical Ver Sacrum published his drawings and was confiscated by a public prosecutor because “the depiction of the nude grossly violated modesty and, therefore, offended the public”. Klimt answered that he wanted nothing to do with stubborn people. What was decisive for him was whom it was meant to please. For Klimt, who was supported by private patronage, this meant his clientele of Viennese middle-class patrons.