1914, Egon Schiele, Blind Mother -- Leopold Museum (Vienna)
From the museum label:
Schiele's feeling about motherhood are expressed in titles such as Dead Mother (1910/11) and Blind Mother. The earlier series was triggered by the artist's belief that his own mother did not fully appreciate or nurture his talent. Blind Mother probably references his younger sister "Gerti," who in November 1913 gave birth to an illegitimate daughter. Egon blamed his sister for "tolerating" the "molestations" of his friend Anton Peschka. Peschka would not marry Gerti until November 1914, shortly before the birth of their second child, Anton Jr.
Gerti was not literally "blind," but it was a challenge for her to simultaneously nurture two infants. Schiele's 1914 canvas alludes to the burden that had been placed on the twenty-year-old mother.
1914, Egon Schiele, Blind Mother -- Leopold Museum (Vienna)
From the museum label:
Schiele's feeling about motherhood are expressed in titles such as Dead Mother (1910/11) and Blind Mother. The earlier series was triggered by the artist's belief that his own mother did not fully appreciate or nurture his talent. Blind Mother probably references his younger sister "Gerti," who in November 1913 gave birth to an illegitimate daughter. Egon blamed his sister for "tolerating" the "molestations" of his friend Anton Peschka. Peschka would not marry Gerti until November 1914, shortly before the birth of their second child, Anton Jr.
Gerti was not literally "blind," but it was a challenge for her to simultaneously nurture two infants. Schiele's 1914 canvas alludes to the burden that had been placed on the twenty-year-old mother.