Familial bliss?

This picture was painted in 1918, the year of Schiele’s death. Although unfinished, it has still endured one important change: in earlier versions, a bouquet of flowers stood in the place of the child, probably added when he learnt that his wife Edith was pregnant.

Although the male figure is instantly recognisable as Schiele, the woman is not his wife, making the change of the flowers for a baby rather strange. Originally known as Squatting Couple, it was renamed The Family after the artist’s death.