Egon Schiele, “Self-Portrait with Arm Twisted above Head,” watercolor and charcoal on paper, 1910 (private collection)
Neue Galerie New York
1048 Fifth Ave. at 86th St.
Through September 3 (closed Tuesday/Wednesday), $20
www.neuegalerie.org
In February 1918, Austrian artist and caftan fancier Gustav Klimt passed away at the age of fifty-five. Later that year, his student Egon Schiele died on Halloween; he was only twenty-eight. The Neue Galerie is honoring the hundredth anniversary of their deaths with the small but lovely exhibit “Gustav Klimt and Egon Schiele: 1918 Centenary,” which continues through September 3. The show consists of three rooms, two of which are always on view at the Neue, one featuring gorgeous portraits and landscapes by Klimt, including “Adele Bloch-Bauer I,” “The Dancer,” and “Park at Kammer Castle,” the other displaying such Schiele oils as “Man and Woman I (Lovers I),” “Danae,” and “Town among Greenery (The Old City III).” But it is the Drawings Gallery that brings the two giants together, with walls of works on paper dedicated to each artist. The Schiele wall is particularly dramatic, highlighted by several of his daring, bold self-portraits, including “Self-Portrait with Arm Twisted above Head” and “Self-Portrait in Brown Coat,” in addition to the bittersweet “Friendship.” Upstairs, there are photos of Schiele and Klimt in “Highlights of German Art from the Collection.” The centenary celebration continues nearby at the Met Breuer, where “Obsession: Nudes by Klimt, Schiele, and Picasso from the Scofield Thayer Collection” is on view through October 7.