Egon Schiele is a university student living in artistic poverty in pre-WWI Vienna, where he supports himself and his younger sister with money from a wealthy uncle in Prague. He has stepped away from formal classes to devote himself to drawing and oil paintings, with a particular focus on figure studies of young women. He sells a few drawings and paintings for modest sums, and the stipend from his uncle helps them survive in a city that challenges their finances.
As his work starts to circulate, he meets Gustav Klimt, a leading figure in Vienna’s art scene who is genuinely impressed by his talent. Klimt is open to buying some of Egon’s pieces, but Egon remains uninterested in money as the driving force behind his art. When Klimt’s model arrives during their meeting, Klimt notices Egon’s fascination with the aesthetics of the female form and offers her to Egon for drawing and painting sessions. The two artists strike an unusual arrangement: Klimt would trade some of his drawings for some of Egon’s, since Egon won’t part with the works he creates. In short order, the two creators discover a shared ground in their artistic exchange.
The arrival of Klimt’s model creates tension at Egon’s studio, and a romantic spark develops between them. Egon’s sister, Gerti Schiele, grows perplexed as he shifts his focus away from her toward the newcomer. She writes to their uncle to explain the changing circumstances, and the reply is swift: the monthly stipend will be cut off, with advice to return to a more conventional moral life. Meanwhile, authorities hear rumors that Egon’s drawings have drawn complaints about using underage girls as models for explicit nude work, and he is summoned to a hearing that could change the course of his life.
The court case unfolds with a mix of drama and technical detail. A pivotal turn comes when Klimt’s former model seeks help for Egon, and Klimt provides a defense. The proceedings reveal that none of the girls were objectified by Egon in a sexual sense, and medical examinations show they retained their maidenly virtue. Yet the court still weighs the moral value of Egon’s art, eventually finding the drawings lewd and imposing a 30-day probation rather than a harsher punishment. The verdict marks a complicated victory: Egon is spared harsher penalties, but his career and reputation are put under intense scrutiny.
Years of poverty and health problems take their toll. Egon’s constitution has suffered, and his relationship with Klimt’s former model becomes untenable, driving a painful separation. She volunteers as a nurse when World War I breaks out, while Egon, now free to pursue marriage and to hold his first exhibitions, continues to work. Despite moments of artistic achievement, his health deteriorates to the point where no medicine can halt the decline, and he dies at 27. At his death, he has left behind a vast legacy—more than 600 oil paintings and over 2,000 drawings—stored in his studio. As the story closes, an accountant begins inventorying the enormous collection, gradually assigning prices to the many works that had once defined his life and vocation, leaving a stark reminder of a prodigious talent cut short.
