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Introduction
Egon Schiele’s The Hermits (1912) presents one of the artist’s most enigmatic explorations of isolation, companionship, and the existential tension between self and other. Executed at the height of his Expressionist innovations, this work depicts two elongated figures cloaked in dark robes, their bodies intertwined in an intimate yet unsettling embrace. Against a sparse, neutral background, the hermits’ emaciated forms, angular limbs, and penetrating gazes draw the viewer into a psychological tableau that balances seclusion with profound interdependence. By analyzing the painting’s historical context, compositional strategies, formal devices, and symbolic resonances, we uncover Schiele’s radical approach to portraiture—and to the experience of solitude in an uncertain world.
Historical Context
Created in 1912, The Hermits emerges at a pivotal moment in European art history. Vienna, still under the sway of Gustav Klimt’s Secession movement, was a city in flux: fin-de-siècle optimism had given way to existential anxiety, and artists sought new ways to represent inner realities. Schiele, then in his early twenties, had already broken with Klimt’s decorative excesses, favoring raw draftsmanship and visceral emotion. Politically, the Austro-Hungarian Empire teetered on the brink of dissolution, beset by nationalist tensions and social upheaval. Against this backdrop, Schiele’s figures—detached from any specified locale—embody the isolation and alienation felt by many of his contemporaries. Yet by pairing two hermits, he complicates the notion of solitude, suggesting that even in self-imposed exile, human bonds remain irreducible.
Visual Composition
The Hermits presents a tightly wrought composition in which two figures occupy almost the entire pictorial plane. The central hermit stands slightly left of center, his body angled forward with a pronounced curvature of the spine. His counterpart emerges from behind, peering over the first figure’s shoulder, their heads almost touching. The robes, rendered in inky blacks and deep browns, cloak arms and torsos in voluminous sweeps of pigment. At the painting’s bottom left, a slender stem bearing three small red blossoms—perhaps rosebuds—anchors the figures to the ground. There is no defined horizon or setting: the background’s muted beige and gray washes create an ambiguous space that both isolates and elevates the figures into an almost ethereal realm.
Use of Line and Form
Line is central to Schiele’s aesthetic, and in The Hermits it operates as both structural framework and expressive gesture. Bold, angular contours define the figures’ outlines, emphasizing their skeletal underpinnings. Within these contours, Schiele employs fine, almost jittery hatchings to render musculature and tendons, creating tension points at the collarbones, elbows, and knuckles. The figures’ distorted proportions—elongated limbs, narrowed waists, and exaggerated joints—eschew classical harmony in favor of emotional candor. The interplay of thick, assured lines and delicate, sketch-like strokes generates a dynamic rhythm: the eye is compelled to trace each angle, each joint, as though following the beat of a hidden pulse.
Color Palette and Texture
Schiele limits his palette to a handful of earth tones and somber hues—deep blacks, browns, and muted greens—punctuated by fleshy ochres and pale pinks. These subdued colors underscore the hermits’ ashen skin and reinforce the painting’s austere mood. The three red blossoms provide the sole note of vibrant color, drawing attention to life persisting even in austerity. Texturally, Schiele alternates between thin washes that allow the paper’s grain to show through and thicker applications of gouache in the robes, which evoke the weight and opacity of heavy cloth. This contrast between transparency and opacity heightens the painting’s tactile presence: one can almost feel the stiffness of the robes and the fragility of exposed flesh.
Symbolic Elements
The title The Hermits invites reflection on themes of solitude, spirituality, and the self’s relationship to the world. Hermits typically renounce society to pursue inner truths; yet Schiele’s pairing suggests that isolation need not be absolute. The entwined figures evoke mutual support, shared burdens, and the paradox of finding communion through withdrawal. The rosebuds at the base may symbolize hope, fleeting beauty, or spiritual longing—each bud poised between bloom and decay. Placed at the figures’ feet, they imply that even in austere retreat, the possibility of renewal remains. Through these symbols, Schiele transforms a seemingly simple portrait of two cloaked figures into a meditation on the human condition’s oscillation between negation and affirmation.
Spatial Dynamics and Ambiguity
In rejecting a clearly defined setting, Schiele flattens the pictorial space, compressing figure and ground into an intimate plane. The absence of environmental cues—no rocky cave, no forest clearing—creates a universal stage for existential drama. The hermits appear untethered, floating between material presence and metaphysical absence. Yet the three red blossoms tether them subtly to an earthly realm, preventing the scene from becoming purely abstract. This spatial ambiguity amplifies the tension between corporeality and spirit, inviting viewers to project their own interiors onto the blank expanse. In this way, the painting becomes a mirror reflecting both individual and collective anxieties around isolation.
Psychological Resonance
More than a depiction of two solitary figures, The Hermits probes the psychology of companionship in isolation. The front figure’s downcast eyes and inward-turned posture suggest introspection or even remorse. The second figure’s gaze, however, is direct—eyes wide, eyebrows raised—implying vigilance or protective watchfulness. Together, they form a dyad in which one hermit retreats into self-examination while the other stands guard against external threats or internal despair. This interplay of vulnerability and guardianship creates a charged emotional field: the viewer is drawn into a silent drama of care, fear, and mutual dependence that speaks to the complexities of human connection.
Technical Innovation
Schiele’s technique in The Hermits exemplifies his unconventional fusion of drawing and painting. He begins with a precise underdrawing—visible even beneath the washes—that maps out the figures’ angular forms. Over this, he applies watercolor and gouache in layered glazes, balancing thin, transparent passages with areas of dense opacity. His brushwork in the robes is gestural and broad, while the flesh receives meticulous cross-hatching in ink or pencil. The deliberate exposure of preliminary lines and accidental drips underscores Schiele’s embrace of the creative process as an integral part of the work’s meaning. By refusing to conceal his artistic labor, he aligns himself with avant-garde impulses that prize authenticity over polish.
The Hermits within Schiele’s Oeuvre
The Hermits occupies a distinctive place among Schiele’s exhaustive series of figure studies and self-portraits. While his early works often featured solitary figures—nudes contorted in introspective poses—this painting foregrounds interpersonal dynamics within solitude. Created shortly after his controversial prison experience in 1912, it reflects Schiele’s deepening interest in psychological complexity and symbolic content. Subsequent works would continue to explore erotic tension and organic motifs, but The Hermits stands out for its austere dignity and spiritual overtones. It bridges the gap between raw bodily exploration and more metaphysical inquiries that characterized his later wartime productions.
Reception and Influence
When first exhibited, Schiele’s daring distortions and overt psychological themes provoked divided critical reactions. Admirers praised his technical virtuosity and emotional honesty, while detractors found his figures grotesque or indecent. Over the decades, however, The Hermits has been reappraised as a pioneering exploration of relational solitude and Expressionist intensity. Its formal innovations—in line, color, and spatial ambiguity—have influenced generations of artists interested in the intersection of figuration and psychology. Painters such as Francis Bacon and Lucian Freud have cited Schiele’s raw immediacy as a touchstone, while contemporary practitioners continue to draw on his strategies for depicting internal states through external forms.
Legacy and Continuing Relevance
More than a century after its completion, The Hermits remains profoundly resonant in an era defined by both pervasive connectivity and pervasive loneliness. Its portrayal of two figures bound by companionship yet engulfed in individual introspection mirrors contemporary experiences of relation amidst alienation. The painting’s visual economy and symbolic density invite new readings in light of modern concerns—mental health, virtual isolation, and the search for meaning in fracturing social landscapes. Exhibitions of Schiele’s work routinely draw large audiences, affirming his enduring power to capture the fragile interplay between self-sufficiency and interdependence.
Conclusion
Egon Schiele’s The Hermits transcends mere portraiture to become an evocative meditation on solitude, solidarity, and the human psyche. Through bold line work, a restrained yet potent palette, and a composition that flattens and heightens space, Schiele creates a tableau that is at once austere and deeply empathetic. The entwined figures and the delicate rosebuds at their feet suggest that even in withdrawal, the bonds of care and the promise of renewal endure. As viewers, we are drawn into their silent vigil—witnessing the tension between isolation and mutual support, introspection and guardianship. In this profound work, Schiele invites us to contemplate our own thresholds of solitude and communion, reminding us that the self is most fully revealed in relation to another.