“The Family (Squatting Couple)” by Egon Schiele

View “The Family” (Squatting Couple)” by Egon Schiele

Among many paintings about plague, Egon Schiele’s painting catches my eyes. He painted ‘The Family’ during the Spanish flu in 1918. Egon Schiele is an Austrian Painter. Schiele is well-known for his painting talent. His mentor, Gustav Klimt says that “(He) has talent. Even too much”. The most frequent subjects of his paintings and drawings are suffering and the unsteadiness of life.

Like the pandemic situation that we faced in these past few weeks, Schiele experienced the Spanish flu epidemic. The epidemic began in the last months of the First world war. The Spanish flu infected 500 million people or almost a third of the world’s population. The death toll reaches 100 million people!

‘The Family’ or ‘Squatting Couple’ is an expressionist portrait painting of himself, his wife, and their ‘unborn child’. All of them are naked, except for the baby. Similar to his other paintings, bold lines of arms and legs, along with withered naked bodies, suggest the sadness and anxiety. The eccentric body position, their faces, and the mature color expresses their anguish during the endemic.

His wife who was six months pregnant then died because of the Spanish flu. Schiele also dead three days later caused by the flu. Their child was never born.

What can we learn from ‘The Family’? ‘The Family’ is Schiele’s self-reflection during the hard situation of an endemic. He and his family faced the life-threatening disease. In that circumstance, the fundamental questions about our existence often come to mind. This artwork not only can express the pain of the painter, but also all people in the same situation. As a viewer, we may feel this painting represents our suffering. It can bring a feeling of sorrow but also a healing power. That’s why many painters and artists often portray gloominess and unhappiness, that aims to attain, what Aristotle called Catharsis, the purification or purgation of emotions.

Moreover, Schiele’s painting can be seen as social documentary art. ‘The Family’ reminds us of The Spanish flu in 1918. It is really meaningful since in every period the world always faces catastrophic pandemic. Artwork, thus, is not apart from its social context. It is always from, within, and for life.