The artistic gaze into the mirror – Egon Schiele personally and in close-up. Many artists share the desire for involvement with the self and their own appearance. In the oeuvre of Egon Schiele, self-portraits occupy a central role. Over a period of many years Schiele recorded himself in various poses and styles. This publication focuses in detail on this crucial and yet often only marginally mentioned aspect of his art. Egon Schiele’s contorted and eccentric figures are among the world’s iconic images. For many of these works he and his own body served as model. His interest often lay not in his own self, but more generally in the position of the individual in the changing modern world. As in experimental arrangements, Schiele poses in a variety of roles. In doing so he “uses” his face and wears it like a mask. The publication offers a comprehensive representation of this life theme of the artist genius.

Admired by contemporaries as an artistic "jack - of - all - trades", Koloman Moser (1868 - 1918) is regarded today as one of the most important representatives of the Viennese Secession of around 1900. As a graphic artist and designer Moser was unparalleled in his artistic diversity, creating furniture, textiles, and objects - for the Wiener Werkstatte among others - that are icons of Modernism, as well as leaving behind an impressive oeuvre of paintings. A group of progressive artists, including Koloman M oser, founded "The Association of Visual Artists of Austria, Secession" under the leadership of Gustav Klimt in 1897. Moser in particular is considered the outstanding graphic artist of the Secession, thanks to his design of posters, exhibition concepts, a nd of the journal Ver Sacrum. He was the ideal master for the formation of the Gesamtkunstwerk "Vienna circa 1900", hardly surpassed in imagination and productivity. He applied his incredible virtuosity and inexhaustible fantasy to a variety of materials. In 1903 Moser founded, together with Josef Hoffmann and the industrialist Fritz Waerndorfer, the "Wiener Werkstatte" [Viennese Workshops]. The close cooperation between the designing artists and the master craftsmen allowed a completely new level of qualit y of to be attained in artisan craftwork. After 1907 Koloman Moser concentrated on painting once more. This publication presents exceptional examples of his art, drawn primarily from the Leopold Collection and situating them in a biographical and art histo rical context.