Portrait of Paris von Gütersloh (Bildnis Paris von Gütersloh) from The Graphic Work of Egon Schiele (Das Graphische Werk von Egon Schiele)

The Portrait of Paris von Gütersloh (Bildnis Paris von Gütersloh) from The Graphic Work of Egon Schiele (Das Graphische Werk von Egon Schiele) is a powerful lithograph created by Egon Schiele in 1918, shortly before his death. This work is one of eight prints included in a significant portfolio designed to consolidate the artist’s graphic legacy, consisting specifically of six drypoints and two lithographs. Though the piece was executed during Schiele's final, remarkably prolific year, the complete portfolio was published posthumously in 1922, securing its place within the documented history of Austrian Expressionism.

The subject is the writer, painter, and actor Paris von Gütersloh (1887-1973), a crucial figure in the Viennese avant-garde and an important patron and friend of the artist. Schiele captures Gütersloh with a direct, penetrating gaze, utilizing the textural qualities inherent to the lithograph medium. The lines defining the sitter’s face and posture are quick and assertive, maintaining the psychological intensity that characterized Schiele's drawing while demonstrating a new structural maturity in his later work. The piece reflects a refinement of style, moving away from the stark alienation of his earlier self-portraits toward a more robust, compositionally balanced approach often seen in his 1918 production.

This lithograph is an essential example of the printmaking tradition during this specific period of modernism. The classification of the work as a print allows for the wider distribution of Schiele’s vision, and these graphic works, created around 1918, are highly prized by collectors and scholars. The specific copy of Portrait of Paris von Gütersloh resides in the esteemed collection of the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA). As seminal works of early 20th-century art, prints from Das Graphische Werk von Egon Schiele are frequently referenced and studied, with many versions subsequently entering the public domain for research purposes.