Nancy Scheer

This striking image depicting a man alone in a forlorn landscape that is pockmarked as if by bomb craters is actually a self-portrait. Cupped hands partially obscure his deeply lined visage and his expression communicates both angst and despair. Erich Heckel’s “Man on a Plain” (1917) evokes elements of Edvard Munch’s “The Scream” (1893)—each conveying a sense of hopelessness in the midst of an existential crisis. Munch had lived in Germany for several years and exhibitions of his work attracted both acclaim and derision. His impact on the Brücke artists was profound, as this work attests.

NOW ON VIEW
“Erich Heckel”
Through January 12, 2026

Learn more at
neuegalerie.org/erichheckel ✨

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Erich Heckel, “Man on a Plain,” 1917, woodcut on paper. Private Collection.

1910 marked Egon Schiele’s so-called “Expressionist breakthrough,” the point at which his pictorial style became abruptly, radically personal. Rendering his subjects in bold, angular lines with unnatural coloration, the young Austrian artist embarked on an earnest interrogation of pose and gesture as signifiers of character and psychological state. Schiele himself modeled for many such exploratory works, producing several dozen self-portraits in this year alone.

“Self-Portrait in Brown Coat” shows Schiele in three-quarter-length, with much of his torso exposed. Assured and apparently smirking, he seeks out the viewer’s gaze. The white heightening about his head creates a sharp distinction between his face and the relatively dark paper on which it's drawn, intensifying the impact of the likeness. Similar "body haloes" recur in other figural works through 1911.

Image: Egon Schiele, “Self-Portrait in Brown Coat,” 1910, gouache, watercolor, and black crayon with white heightening on paper.

Kate Bush invites 52 visual artists to create ‘Running Up That Hill’ work to benefit War Child Kate Bush has invited 52 visual artists to create work inspired by her seminal hit 'Running Up That Hill' to benefit War Child.

My solo show, "Painted On" will be exhibited in the Michael G. Callas Gallery at Washington County Arts Council from October 2nd - December 2, 2025.

Opening Reception: Thursday, October 2, 2025 from 5 to 7 pm.

34 S Potomac Street, Ste 100, Hagerstown, MD 21740

Please use the A&E Parking Deck located at 25 Renaissance Way.

Hope you all can attend the opening reception or can visit during the gallery dates.

Sotheby’s has landed one of the biggest consignments announced yet for the November sales in New York: $400 million in art from the collection of Leonard Lauder, who died in July at 92.⁠
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The crown jewel of the tranche of artworks is likely to be the crown jewel of the November auctions more broadly: Gustav Klimt‘s “Portrait of Elisabeth Lederer” (1914–16). According to the New York Times, which first reported the news, the painting is expected to more than $150 million and is thought to be one of the few full-length Klimt portraits still held privately.⁠
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Speaking to the Times, Sotheby’s chief executive seemed confident, saying of the Lauder sale, “I think we’re going to make history with this collection. It will be something talked about for a long time.”⁠
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Read more: https://www.artnews.com/art-news/news/leonard-lauder-sothebys-klimt-matisse-1234751922/

Long-Lost Painting By Rubens From 1613 Found in Paris Mansion by French Auctioneer Auctioneer Jean-Pierre Osenat discovered the large painting of Jesus Christ's crucifixion by the Flemish master Peter Paul Rubens last September.

Baltimore will witness Amy Sherald’s “Trans Forming Liberty” five months after the artist withdrew her planned exhibition from the National Portrait Gallery, saying that museum officials had tried to censor the controversial painting.

Her exhibit, “Amy Sherald: American Sublime,” will run at the Baltimore Museum of Art from Nov. 2 to April 5, the museum announced in a news release.

Reporting by The Baltimore Sun

📸: Courtesy of Amy Sherald and the Hauser & Wirth Gallery