Erwin Dominik Johann Osen (also known as Erwin Dom Osen and Mime van Osen) was born in 1891 in Vienna, Austria, and died in 1970 in Dortmund, Germany. A mime, stage performer, and painter, Osen was closely associated with the Viennese Expressionist movement and was a founding member of the Neukunstgruppe in 1909, alongside Egon Schiele, with whom he shared a complex personal and artistic relationship.

Osen trained at the Vienna Court Opera Ballet School, where his design talent was recognized early on. He later studied painting privately with Gustav Klimt and enrolled at the Vienna Academy of Fine Arts, where he met Schiele. Schiele created a series of expressive portraits of Osen, which are considered significant explorations of hum...