Dominik Osen (1891–1970), also known as Erwin Dom Osen and Mime Van Osen, was an Austrian

Expressionist Expressionism is a modernist movement, initially in poetry and painting, originating in Northern Europe around the beginning of the 20th century. Its typical trait is to present the world solely from a subjective perspective, distorting it rad ...

painter, cabaret performer, and

mime A mime artist, or simply mime (from Greek language, Greek , , "imitator, actor"), is a person who uses ''mime'' (also called ''pantomime'' outside of Britain), the acting out of a story through body motions without the use of speech, as a the ...

. Osen was born to a Japanese father and Austrian mother, but orphaned at an early age. At six, he entered the ballet school of the

Vienna Court Opera The Vienna State Opera (, ) is a historic opera house and opera company based in Vienna, Austria. The 1,709-seat Renaissance Revival venue was the first major building on the Vienna Ring Road. It was built from 1861 to 1869 following plans by A ...

, where its director, the composer/conductor

Gustav Mahler Gustav Mahler (; 7 July 1860 – 18 May 1911) was an Austro-Bohemian Romantic music, Romantic composer, and one of the leading conductors of his generation. As a composer he acted as a bridge between the 19th-century Austro-German tradition and ...

, recognized his exceptional gift for design and fostered his education. In 1907, he studied painting privately with

Gustav Klimt Gustav Klimt (14 July 1862 – 6 February 1918) was an Austrian symbolist painter and a founding member of the Vienna Secession movement. His work helped define the Art Nouveau style in Europe. Klimt is known for his paintings, murals, sket ...

. He then enrolled at the

Vienna Academy The Academy of Fine Arts Vienna () is a public art school in Vienna, Austria. Founded in 1688 as a private academy, it is now a public university. The academy is also known for twice rejecting admission to a young Adolf Hitler in 1907 and 1908. ...

, where he met and befriended

Egon Schiele Egon Leo Adolf Ludwig Schiele (; 12 June 1890 – 31 October 1918) was an Austrian Expressionist painters, painter. His work is noted for its intensity and its raw sexuality, and for the many self-portraits the artist produced, including nude sel ...

, with whom he and others co-founded the ''Neukunstgruppe'' ("New Art Group"). Osen modeled for his friend Schiele, the

Austrian Austrian may refer to: * Austrians, someone from Austria or of Austrian descent ** Someone who is considered an Austrian citizen * Austrian German dialect * Something associated with the country Austria, for example: ** Austria-Hungary ** Austria ...

painter, in a series of portraits during the early 1900s. Schiele's portrayals of Osen (and of fellow model Max Oppenheimer) are noteworthy as not simply anatomical studies, but "explorations of human sexuality" for which the two served as muses. Jane Kallir, author of Schiele's catalogue raissoné, noted how daring this was, as homosexuality was illegal in Austria at the time, and "any kind of homoerotic impulse was totally suppressed... something that no one would be able to openly demonstrate in any way, shape, or form.” In 1912, in a vulnerable state, Schiele moved into Osen’s Vienna studio, but came to view Osen as “an imposter” who passed off his works as Schiele’s. Worse, per Schiele's biographer

Arthur Roessler Arthur Roessler, also spelled Rössler, (20 February 1877 – 20 July 1950) was an Austrian art critic, art historian and essayist. Biography Roessler was born in to the family of a chemist and engineer. He studied philosophy, literature and ar ...

, he stole Schiele’s own drawings, his paints, brushes, and paper and sold them. (Roessler’s unflattering account of Osen and Schiele's relationship led Osen to sue Roessler, leading to the withdrawal of a later edition.) Schiele ended the friendship. In 2021, the

Leopold Museum The Leopold Museum, housed in the Museumsquartier in Vienna, Austria, is home to one of the largest collections of modern Austrian art, featuring artists such as Egon Schiele, Gustav Klimt, Oskar Kokoschka, and Richard Gerstl. It contains the w ...

in Vienna exhibited "The Body Electric", dedicated to Osen's drawings made while a patient at the Garrison Hospital II. Stefan Jellinek, a doctor at the hospital, commissioned the drawings to document and research the uses and dangers of electricity to restore health. The exhibit noted that the drawings "afford insight into wartime military medicine and also offer a new view on Vienna’s art history, pointing out the importance of clinical settings for the development of modernist portraiture and figuration."https://www.leopoldmuseum.org/de/ausstellungen/digitale-ausstellungen/the-body-electric/en

References

1891 births 1970 deaths Austrian male stage actors Mimes 20th-century Austrian male actors {{Austria-bio-stub