Artist | Egon Schiele

Year | 1918

Medium

Oil on canvas

Dimensions

150 × 160.8 cm

Location

The Belvedere : Upper Belvedere ↗

Squatting Couple (The Family)

This 1918 masterpiece depicts a naked man, woman, and child huddled in the dark. The man, bearing Schiele's facial features, crouches protectively behind the woman, whose soft curves contrast with his bony physique. Although physically close, the figures appear isolated. Tragically, Schiele's own family never existed; his wife Edith died while six months pregnant on October 28, 1918, followed by the artist three days later. The title "The Family" was first used by art critic Berta Zuckerkandl following these events.