Brief Biography-Richard Gerstl was an Austrian expressionist painter, born in Vienna in 1883 to a wealthy merchant family. His formal tuition was in the Vienna Academy of Fine Arts under Christian Griepenkerl, but he was unhappy with his teachings and withdrew. He set up a studio in 1906; a year later, he became close friends with the composer Arnold Schoenberg and gave him painting lessons. He painted Schoenberg along with his family several times. In 1908, Gerstl had an affair with Schoenberg’s wife, Matilda. When she returned to her husband, he hung himself in his studio. Gerstl never exhibited any works during his life, and it was not until after the second world war that they became known.