At the beginning of the twentieth century, Egon Schiller was one of Vienna's most controversial artists. In addition to painting many self-portraits during his life, he also painted a large number of portraits of young girls, such as Death and the Maiden, The Reclining Woman, The with Black Hair... He was also arrested on charges of abduction for painting nudes for underage girls.
His deviant and ostentatious style of painting is still provoking the public even 100 years later. When the 2018 Uk held the exhibition to commemorate the centenary of Schiller's death, the paintings on the propaganda posters were still marked with mosaics in a euphemistic way.
"Egon. Schiller: Death and the Maiden" is a film that takes Schiller's love-hate entanglement with his sister, Wally, and his wife as a clue, and tells the short life of Schiller who is financially stretched, emotionally colorful, and passionately focused on his career.
When he was a child, his family life was very rich. His father was a railway station manager and had a large amount of assets and stocks in the family.
However, one day, his father had a syphilis attack, burned all the stocks and assets in the family, and then committed suicide.
In fact, the shadow of his father has always stayed in his memory, he will dance and dance to think of his crazy father before suicide, and he will have a headache because of the thought of him.
This also makes people wonder whether the distorted lines and vicious human faces in his paintings are due to the lack and pain of childhood.
Schiller and his sister lived in poverty, earning off their meager income from selling paintings. Before Schiller met Wally, his sister was his muse. Many nude portraits of sisters were painted. The younger sister, jealous of her brother, often smiled with the nude models she brought home, and married Schiller's most unaccustomed peer in one fell swoop.
Schiller was condemned by the public for painting free portraits of underage girls for a long time, and his mentor introduced him to the model Wally. Since then, Schiller has begun his and Wally's poor but sweet cohabitation life, and Wally has become his nanny in life, a career assistant, and an emotional partner. Two people loved each other in a country house and spent four or five years drinking water. Under Wally's careful care, Schiller was able to devote himself to painting. Some people were jealous of Schiller's talent and framed him for kidnapping and raping underage girls. Although they were eventually cleared of their guilt, Schiller and Wally left the sad place and went to a small town.
Opposite their rental house lived a middle-class family with two daughters. The two daughters both fell in love with the handsome and talented Schiller at the same time. Schiller flirted with the two girls, and Wally smiled quietly next to her, confident that her position in Schiller's mind was untouched.
When war comes, Schiller will be conscripted into the army. Wally said she wanted to rent a house at schiller's battle place to accompany him at all times and give him a place to paint. That being said, they don't have the money to rent a house or buy painting materials. On the eve of Schiller's departure to join the army (the famous "Death and the Maiden" was painted by Schiller and Wally when they were about to separate, and the picture was full of sadness and despair), he told Wally that he wanted to get married and go to war. Wally was overjoyed. Schiller said that the bride was not hers, but Edith, the second daughter of the house opposite. After marrying her, I will not worry about rent and painting. Wally slapped Schiller a few times and snatched the door out.
Schiller and Edith were successfully married. Edith brought Schiller's beloved brush and paper with her when she went to see him at the Schiller's Residency Hotel. When the two were in love, Schiller stopped and picked up a paintbrush to draw Edith's delicate appearance. Edith flashed unhappy. "Where there is genius, I use other people's coffee work on work." Lu Xun's famous words were perfectly embodied in Schiller's time, and at the same time, it also showed that Schiller did not love Edith in his heart.
In order to be able to be by Schiller's side, Wally ran to the battlefield to become a field nurse, hoping to one day meet Schiller on the battlefield. Where did she know that the field officer admired Schiller's talent and made him a warehouse manager and immersed himself in painting. Schiller didn't go to war at all. Wally died of scarlet fever on the battlefield. Schiller received news of Wally's death on the day of his exhibition, and he changed the painting they had made when they broke up called "Man and Woman" to Death and Woman. Yes, Schiller is Wally's Grim Reaper, and if she doesn't go to the battlefield to find Schiller, she won't die.
Later, a pandemic hit Schiller's city, and neither Schiller nor his wife was spared. His wife and the fetus in his womb left Schiller first, and Schiller died at the age of 28 when his sister finally found the life-saving medicine quinine.
Throughout this film, I was deeply impressed by the fact that men are always rational animals, knowing their goals and intentions. Come first. Most women are sensual animals, and they go to death like moths to love. Women still have to love themselves a little more, so that they will be less hurt.
Then there is the fact that women should never fall in love with artists. Because they won't have the same love for you, their passion, their lives, their everything dedicated to art.
They gave themselves all to art, let alone sacrificing you?