Portrait of Franz Hauer

Egon Schiele executed the plate for this print with great delicacy. His sinuous outlines recall the stylized mannerism of Lucas Cranach's portraiture. The cross-hatching along lines such as the furrowed brow of the sitter remind some of sutures, but they may equally tap into childhood memories of rag-doll companions. The exaggerated, idiosyncratic style and the alloy of playfulness and heart-wrenching sensitivity are unmistakably that of Schiele in his maturity.