EGON SCHIELE (1890-1918) Watercolors and Drawings From American Collections. March - April 1965

New York: Galerie St. Etienne, 1965. First edition. With 48 full page glossy plates, 14 of which are in color, featuring the works of Egon Schiele and full-page self portrait on the verso of the acknowledgments page. 8vo, printer’s original hardcover boards covered in tan paper, with a large pastedown on the upper cover featuring a self-portrait in black and with lettering in blue, lettered in blue on the spine. 15pp plus 48 numbered plates. Internally a fine copy, the boards with some minor age mellowing and a bit of splitting to the tan paper along the spine. FIRST EDITION. The illustrated catalogue for the 1965 Galerie St. Etienne exhibition of works by Egon Schiele. It includes an essay on art of Schiele by Thomas M. Messer. Beautifully illustrated on fine plates are 48 of the best works from the exhibition.
Schiele, a protégé of Gustav Klimt, was a major figurative painter of the early 20th century. Schiele's work is noted for its intensity, and the many self-portraits the artist produced. The twisted body shapes and the expressive line that characterize Schiele's paintings and drawings mark the artist as an early exponent of Expressionism, although still strongly associated with the art nouveau movement. He died at the age of 28, a victim of the Spanish Flu epidemic of 1918.