Portrait of a Child (Anton Peschka, Jr.)

The intimate drawing Portrait of a Child (Anton Peschka, Jr.) was created by Austrian artist Egon Schiele in 1916. Executed during the latter period of Schiele’s career, the piece is a highly personal study of the young son of his close friend and fellow artist, Anton Peschka, Sr. The classification as a drawing indicates Schiele’s immediate and skilled approach, utilizing a complex combination of gouache, watercolor, and graphite on paper.

Schiele’s technical mastery is evident in the dynamic layering of materials. He used graphite to quickly define the figure's structure and gaze, then layered translucent washes of watercolor and opaque gouache to build texture and color into the child’s clothes and skin. While many of Schiele’s works are characterized by sharp, angular intensity, this portrait demonstrates a somewhat softer, though still psychologically penetrating, approach, typical of his studies involving close relatives. The strong linearity and expressive use of muted colors anchor this piece firmly within the Expressionist movement dominant in early 20th-century Austria.

Created amidst the turmoil of World War I, the drawing reflects a moment of domestic focus for the artist before his premature death two years later. The precision and delicacy employed underscore its status as a significant example of Schiele’s mature work on paper. This important drawing is held in the permanent collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art, reinforcing its status as a pivotal work of modern Austrian art. High-quality images and prints of this type of work are often released into the public domain by major institutions, allowing students and enthusiasts widespread access to Schiele’s distinctive oeuvre.