Sale: Gutekunst & Klipstein, Bern, 8th November 1958, lot 449
Christian M. Nebehay, Vienna (purchased at the above sale)
Private Collection, Vienna (by descent from the above; sale: Sotheby's, New York, 7th November 2007, lot 5)
Acquired by the present owner in 2009

Vienna, Gustav Nebehay Kunsthandlung, Die Zeichnung: Egon Schiele, 1919, no. 19
New York, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, Gustav Klimt and Egon Schiele, 1965, no. 49 (addenda)
Darmstadt, Mathildenhöhe, Internationale der Zeichnung, 1967, no. 6
Vienna, Graphische Sammlung Albertina, Gustav Klimt, Egon Schiele, 1968, no. 131
London, Fischer Fine Art, Egon Schiele: Oils, Watercolors, Drawings and Graphic Work, 1972, no. 8
Munich, Haus der Kunst, Egon Schiele, 1975, no. 80

Alessandra Comini, Egon Schiele's Portraits, Berkeley, 1974, n.n., illustrated pl. 9
Christian Nebehay, Egon Schiele, Leben, Briefe, Gedichte, Salzburg-Vienna, 1979, fig. 50, illustrated p. 104; fig. 213, illustrated p. 542
Erwin Mitsch, Egon Schiele, 1890-1918, Salzburg, 1988, n.n., illustrated pl. 3
Jane Kallir, Egon Schiele, The Complete Works, New York, 1998, no. 322, fig. 28, illustrated p. 384 
Jane Kallir, Egon Schiele, Life and Work, New York, 2003, illustrated p. 57
Josep Minguet (ed.), Egon Schiele, Barcelona, 2008, n.n., illustrated p. 37

The work has been previously professionally cleaned and some of the pigment has faded. Executed on cream wove paper, not laid down, taped to the mount at all four corners and floating in the mount. There are artist's pin holes to the centre of the lower and upper edges and there are lines of discolouration to the extreme edges of the sheet due to previous mounting, barely visible. There are two small areas of paper skinning to the upper left quadrant. This work is in overall good condition.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

Executed in 1909, Porträt des Komponisten Arthur Löwenstein is one of the artist’s greatest early portraits. Schiele and Löwenstein first met at secondary school in Klosterneuburg where neither showed much interest in academic studies and often instead spent their lessons one secretly drawing and the other composing. In the present work, Schiele portrays Löwenstein as a member of the 1909 newly formed Neue Kunstgruppe (New Art Grup), a group of young creatives yearning for a contemporary Austrian art free of the limitations of imitational art as it was being taught at the Academy. This portrait marks an important stage of transition for the young artist. The influence of Gustav Klimt, at the time the most celebrated portrait painter in Vienna, is apparent. Yet Schiele is noticeably in pursuit of his very own signature style.

Despite the advent of photography, and unlike everywhere else in Europe, portraiture remained en vogue in Austria, where direct contact between artists and patrons built the basis for a flourishing market of portraits and commissions. Klimt’s highly decorative style, both modern and flattering, appealed to Vienna’s leading industrialists and entrepreneurs.  Schiele is said to have first encountered Klimt’s work at the 1908 Kunstschau. In response to this experience he took up a series of ambitious portraits in the manner of Klimt. The older artist seems to have recognised Schiele’s talent, inviting him to participate in the 190꧟9 ‘Kunstschau’. Here Schiele received significant stimulus from a  variety of sourc⛦es which inevitably led to his resignation from the Academy the same year and heralded his career as an independent artist. Simultaneously, Schiele’s initial adoption of the Klimt format to portraiture made place for an increasingly original application of Jugendstil techniques. 

The present portrait signifies an important stage of transition and indicates what soon would become stylistically synonymous with Schiele’s art. Klimt’s influence is evident in the ornamental dense cluster of rings and lines of Löwenstein’s coat and his triangulated pose, the strong emphasis on face and hands through colour🎉 as well as fine details such as the dark curling hair. Where Klimt played off two-dimensional ornamentation against realistically rendered faces and hands, Schiele retains the organic integrity of the body. Unlike Klimt who tends to position his sitter to one side, Schiele here places the figure at the centre of the sheet. Owed to Jugendstil is the use of negative space; whilst Klimt used to set off his figures against a densely worked background, Schiele leaves the figure with no background or visible context – a stylistic practice that would remain with Schiele for the rest of his life. 

The result is an impressive and successful new statement, a portrait, which as Alessandra Comini explains, goes far beyond a simple likeness: ‘The Löwenstein portrait is a more serious statement of character. The compositional motif of the self-enclosing folded arms reflects the mental isolation of the brooding or sleeping sitter and Schiele’s irregular contour line begins to function on a subjective as well as decorative level’ (Alessandra Comini, Egon Schiele Portraits, London, 1990, p. 32).