Richard Gerstl explored Expressionism ahead of fellow artists artists such as Egon Schiele and Oskar Kokoschka. Though he was trained at the Academy, he adopted progressively rougher brushstrokes and bold colors to depict his subjects. With an artistic style that was so far ahead of its time, Gerstl remained independent and forged his own path instead.

Gerstl worked closely with Arnold Schoenberg, a pioneer of modernism in music at that time. He was influenced by musicians who sought to break away from traditional forms. Gerstl’s later portraits are close to pure abstraction, capturing only the essence of the form of his subjects. Although his radical works were not well-received by the art world in his time, Gerstl is now celebrated as a trailblazer who opened the doors for Austrian Expressionism.