Self-Seer II (Death and Man)

• Egon Schiele (1890–1918)
• 1911
• Oil on canvas
• Leopold Museum, Vienna

Egon Schiele titled this work himself as Self-Seer II and Death and Man. The man in the painting is lost in introspection with his eyes closed, and his shadowy double stands behind him like a specter. This soul, representing death, drapes his arm over the man’s shoulders. The man has lost the security of being the indivisible self. In this painting, the viewer’s eyes are drawn to the hand that protrudes into the picture from below. Hands in Schiele's works often serve as a vehicle to express inner emotions. His dark colors and angular lines convey the emotional agony and anxiety.