Egon, Edith and DOG...

Such a delight yesterday at the Geementemuseum! A special room featuring the sketches and paintings of children's illustrator Harriet Van Reek, who was commissioned to write and illustrate a book about artist Egon Schiele and his wife Edith.

The room was set up especially for children so that they could engage with the pictures and story. They could color in Edith's striped wedding dress (which she made herself from old curtains). They could make their own pictures and generally have a great time. I loved the focus on the children and I was utterly engaged by Harriet's illustrations which were quirky, whimsical and kind of plaintive. Egon and Edith both died very young in the Spanish flu pandemic of 1918.

I'll let the pictures speak for themselves...

Colour my dress

As you can see I liked the dog!

Schiele's painting of Edith in her wedding dress