This Egon Schiele artistic manifesto written on July 17, 1911, is estimated at €20,000-40,000 in the Dorotheum November 26 auction.
The recently discovered manuscript, which is being offered by Dorotheum in Vienna on November 26, appears to be the first draft of a text that the then 21-year-old radical painter was to publish in slightly modified form some three years later.
The tone of the manuscript is impulsive and self-assured and gives an insight into Schiele’s artistic philosophy: “You cannot look at a work of art: you can only look into it, and few have the necessary gift for that, thank God.”
Until now the existence of the four-page manifesto was not known and so far it has not been possible to identify the original addressee. It is expected to bring €20,000-40,000.
