Upon the death of his mentor Gustav Klimt in 1918, Egon Schiele became the leading avant-garde artist in the Austrian capital. At the Vienna Secession exhibition that same year, Schiele showed more than 40 works that exemplified his singular, expressionistic style: vigorously painted compositions of elongated, angular figures and abstracted landscapes. (Schiele’s 1912 oil painting "Old City", I, may be seen in the neighboring gallery). Schiele’s poster shows a group of like-minded individuals reading at a table. Image and hand-painted text alike were photo-mechanically transferred to the lithographic stone from his drawing (please see image below). Although the features of the figures are abstracted, we know from related studies and earlier versions of this composition that Schiele initially conceived of the composition as a group of friends dining, a reference to the Last Supper in which Schiele placed himself at the head of the table as their spiritual leader.