Seated Woman with Bent Knee (Adele Herms) by Egon Schiele, 1910

ABOUT THIS PAINTING

Most people who admire the work of Egon Schiele are familiar with this iconic portrait, one of the young artist’s most famous and certainly one of his most intriguing. As a student, I was sent this artwork as a postcard, and had it taped to my wall at university, and would look at it every day. I never thought to ask then, what the model’s name might be, what her relationship to the artist might be, and why she was posing in that manner. The woman is wearing a green chemise and bloomers; her legs have fallen open – she’s revealing herself, with a challenging look in her eyes. I often wondered what that look meant. It wasn’t until a decade later, when researching my novel The Flames, that I discovered she was the artist’s sister-in-law, Adele Harms. Alessandra Comini, a Schiele scholar from Texas, interviewed Adele when she was still alive. Adele told Alessandra she had an affair with Egon. When I looked at Seated Woman With Bent Knee again, I saw longing and desire and regret in her eyes. I wondered if perhaps she’d felt more for her sister’s husband than the history books recorded. – Sophie Haydock

Painted: 1910
Location: Vienna, Austria
Repository: National Gallery Prague
Artist: Egon Schiele
Original Format: Gouache on paper