Cambridge Scholars Publishing Complex Art Conservation and Preservation Problems: A Case Study on the Work of Egon Schiele

In this book, for the first time, an examination of Egon Schiele’s general painting technique is carried out. The main case study for this comprehensive investigation is the painting “Stadtende/Häuserbogen III,” 1918, one of Egon Schiele’s last works, which is housed at Universalmuseum Joanneum, Graz, Austria. In this book, the conservation campaign is detailed: uncovering portrait sketches integrated and painted over in the painting, unmasking the signature as a forgery, and recognising the frame as the original decorative frame. The research in the years following the conservation is detailed: discussing that, among other pigments, cadmium sulphide was confirmed in the paint material, which will influence subsequent conservation measures for the painting. The book’s examination continues with the complex interactions between environment and object that were also addressed in recently completed EU projects, concluding that continuously gained knowledge about external influences and storage materials used will help to adapt further measures to the painting as it continues to degrade.