Arnold Schönberg – Gemälde-Bildband

Schönberg summarised what painting meant to him in the following words: "(...) it was really the same for me as composing. It gave me the chance to express myself, to convey my emotions, ideas and feelings; This is perhaps the key to understanding these paintings - or to failing to understand them. Anyone might have suffered as I have, anyone might have been attacked and abused - maybe worse than I have. I believe the feelings conveyed in my art could be appreciated by anyone and I think you either understand them or you don't. As I have already said, I have expressed myself in the same way as I do in music. I have never been very good at putting my feelings and emotions into words. I don't know whether this is the reason I have tried to do this with music and painting. Or the other way round: Because I have been able to express myself by these means, I haven't had the need for words (...)"

This fascinating selection of works from Schönberg's portfolio, recently published by the Arnold Schönberg Centre in Vienna, provides an illuminating insight into his paintings, most of which he created between 1906 and 1912.