Numerous Egon Schiele`s self-portraits portray an uninhibited exhibitionist, but in reality he was said to be shy and sensitive. His preoccupation with sexuality and existential explorations of the human condition convey him both as a product of his time and an artist who achieved aesthetic maturation when he was barely post-adolescent. The very aspects of Schiele's art that precluded its popularity during much of his lifetime ugly distortion in place of accepted notions of beauty, unveiled eroticism, and personal angst are those for which it is considered most compelling today.