The painting "The Blind Mother" by Egon Schiele is a reflection of the artist's complex relationship with his own mother

"The Blind Mother" is a painting by Egon Schiele, created in 1914. The woman breastfeeding a child is depicted in a strange, contorted pose in a dark room resembling a cramped space or attic. The baby is swaddled in black and blue clothing, while the mother is completely nude. Her body appears angular, devoid of feminine curves and bends, and her unhealthy yellowish skin tightly clings to her bones and muscles. Her gaunt, exhausted face with sharp features and sightless eyes is turned away from the child. Vague outlines of a massive object resembling an open chest can be seen in the background. The nondescript, loosely painted surroundings sharply contrast with the highly detailed portrayal of the human bodies, where each muscle is accentuated by dark paint, compelling the viewer to focus on the two main subjects of the artwork. The entire painting is executed in yellow-brown tones, intensifying the atmosphere of profound despair. The only vivid spots are the woman's red lips, coinciding precisely in shade with the red stripes at the bottom of the canvas.

Egon Schiele. The Blind Mother, 1914

• Title of the painting: "The Blind Mother" (German: "Die blinde Mutter").
• Artist: Egon Schiele (1890-1918).
• Year of creation: 1914.
• Size: 99 x 120 cm.
• Style: Expressionism.
• Genre: Portrait.
• Technique: Oil.
• Material: Canvas.
• Location: Leopold Museum, Vienna.

Egon Schiele was a talented and unconventional Austrian expressionist artist who worked in the early 20th century. During his short life, he painted around 300 artworks and often explored the theme of the mother-child relationship. Egon blamed his own mother for remarrying too quickly after the death of her first husband, sending him to be raised by his uncle and practically erasing him from her life, which caused him deep emotional trauma. The artist poured his pain into his works, and one of them became the painting "The Blind Mother."

This canvas evokes mixed emotions in the viewer. On one hand, the author depicted a fairly common subject: a nursing woman with a baby in her arms. On the other hand, the atmosphere of the artwork is filled with melancholy and hopelessness, lacking maternal tenderness and love. The protagonist appears detached and empty. She turns away from the child, unable and unwilling to see her own baby, yet unable to abandon it either. Meanwhile, the little one clings tightly with a tiny hand to the woman who is their source of life and the whole world.

"The Blind Mother" by Egon Schiele is a profound and tragic work that vividly portrays the bond between a child and a mother, which for the artist was highly painful and destructive.