Franz von Bayros

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Franz von Bayros 1898
Franz von Bayros: Venus triumphans , around 1910
Franz von Bayros: Ex libris Walther and Amelia Fahrenhorst, 1912

Franz von Bayros (born May 28, 1866 in Zagreb , † April 2, 1924 in Vienna ) also known as Marquis de Bayros , was an Austrian graphic artist , illustrator and painter of the fin de siècle . He also published his works under the pseudonym Choisy Le Conin .

Bayros is often compared to Aubrey Beardsley and Félicien Rops , the other two great erotomaniacs . In contrast to them, however, Bayros was often forced to subordinate his talent to the realities of the market. His illustrations for the classics of erotic literature are characterized by a talent for composition, a subtle play with ornament and a lust for the splendid environment. His numerous erotic works include many with BDSM motifs.

Life

Erotic work by Franz von Bayros

Franz von Bayros' path in life corresponds almost perfectly to the ideas that are commonly associated with the life of a real décadent . It reflects the rise and fall of a gifted artist, but also the trials and tribulations of an entire era, from which hardly an artist of his generation was spared.

origin

Franz von Bayros came from a noble family, which with Charles VI. Left Spain to settle in Austria. Almost all of his ancestors were officers in the service of the Habsburgs . Bayros' father, Otto von Bayros, quit military service at an early age in order to pursue a career with Austrian railways. For Bayros, whose passion for painting became more and more evident from the age of six, his father's repeated professional transfers offered ever new and alternating inspirations. Guaranteed is z. For example, ten-year-old Franz met a group of gypsy women in Bosnia, which was still Turkish at the time, which was to have a lasting impression on the young Bayros. In his attempts to capture the sensual beauty and harmony of these young women, an important motif of his later work was expressed.

The early years in Vienna

After completing secondary school in Vienna and Linz, Bayros passed the entrance exam at the Vienna Academy with Eduard von Engerth at the age of 17 . However, his teachers at the time, the history painters Christian Griepenkerl and August Eisenmenger , could hardly give him any suggestions, so that Bayros felt that longer stays in Munich were a real liberation. The early death of his father in 1888 forced him to rethink, and for a short time the idea of ​​giving up painting entirely was in the air.

From 1890 Bayros continued his studies more intensively, u. a. he worked with the portraitist Eugen Felix and later with the landscape painter Gottfried Seelos . Bayros frequented the elegant world and soon he belonged to Johann Strauss ' circle of friends , whose step-daughter Alice he married in 1896. However, the marriage was far from happy and was invalidated after just one year.

Munich

Bookplate, around 1900

In 1897 Bayros turned his back on Vienna and moved to Munich, the then art metropolis of the German Empire. At that time, Munich offered the artist a wide range of opportunities - in painting, the city was one of the main centers of German naturalism and also home to numerous important impressionists . At the same time there was a busy literature business and numerous new publishers were created, including a. moved here by Albert Langen and Georg Müller .

This parquet was perfect for Bayros: He studied at Adolf Hölzel's special school in Dachau and at Heinrich Knirr's school in Munich (where Paul Klee was also trained). Bayros said about this time: "At the beginning of my biography I should write: I was born in my 31st year in the Knirrschule in Munich." In fact, it was during this phase of his development that the breakthrough to an individual and independent tone took place. At the same time he found connection to the city's artistic circles and was soon a member of a society called "Noble Observer", which also included Thilo von Seebach , Karl Georg von Maassen and the art historian Dr. Hanns Floerke belonged.

There was also great progress in the artistic field. He dealt with impressionism and naturalism and turned more and more away from portrait painting and towards drawing.

In 1904 Bayros had his first major exhibition in Munich, which was very successful. In quick succession there were orders for book illustrations and bookplates , including his illustrations for Manon Lescaut des Abbé Prévost , published in 1905 by Insel Verlag , Leipzig, or for the chatty gems by Denis Diderot (1906 by Georg Müller, Munich). Between 1911 and 1913, a few bookplate portfolios and three Bayros portfolios were finally published by Karl Theodor Senger, Munich.

During this time (1904-08) Bayros' extensive studies of Louis XV., Which serve to further perfect his style, as well as trips to Paris and Italy for study purposes. The rococo studies in particular opened up the world of sophisticated eroticism to him, and as a result he became increasingly known as a draftsman of erotic illustrations - and finally even notorious in 1911 when the censors intervened and he had to leave Munich.

The delicate lines that were characteristic of him, his imagination in the design of the ornaments , his subtle play with not-too-subtle allusions actually predestined him to draw the gallant, the frivolous, the erotic and, not without good reason, he was called the in those Munich days "Wonderful draftsman of the purest Rococo".

Return to Vienna

Back in Vienna, he felt a stranger. Bayros found it difficult to make contact with the Viennese art market, and that was probably one of the reasons why he planned to move to Rome, which was thwarted by the outbreak of the World War. It is true that he found a new circle of good and interesting friends, including Rudolf Hans Bartsch , Anton Wildgans and Hugo Markus Ganz, and remarried; however, he often called his return to Vienna his “exile”.

The order situation had naturally deteriorated somewhat after the spectacular Munich trial, but orders for book and magazine illustrations, bookplates and posters were gradually returning - especially from Austria, Hungary and Italy. An example of this period are his illustrations for Hans Ludwig Rosegger's “Of Kings and Jacobins”.

The outbreak of the First World War meant another setback in the artist's development. Not only did he thwart Bayros' plans to settle in Italy and make a fresh start; Far worse was the ideological blindness that made him identify to the utmost with the cause of the German Reich and experience the collapse of 1918 in a state of deep depression.

The last few years

Grave of Franz von Bayros in the Vienna Central Cemetery
Memorial plaque for Franz von Bayros at the house where he died in Vienna

Only the 600th anniversary of the death of Dante, whom he greatly admired, in September 1921 gave him new impetus. For this day he wanted, as he himself said, to create “his masterpiece as a book illustrator”. In fact, the 60 watercolors for Divine Comedy , which were published by Amalthea Verlag in Vienna in an imposing festival edition of Dante's work, would represent the most mature document of his conception of book illustration, which is never just empty text illustration, but a continuation of the literary work should.

The success of the work on Dante was enormous and exhibitions of the watercolors in Germany and Italy brought Bayros' name back on everyone's lips. But the material success was negligible. Bayros had worked feverishly on his work for a year and a half to the point of physical collapse, but the devaluation of the Austrian crown ate up the payment. Bayros had to restlessly continue to work for bread orders, already marked by his creeping illness. On April 2, 1924, the artist died of a brain hemorrhage; his grave is located in the Vienna Central Cemetery . The work on Divine Comedy was his last important work.

Works (selection)

Illustrations for:

Other editions:

  • Ex libris which they did not exchange under the pseudonym Venu de Bonestoc ( private print 1906)
  • The bonbonnière. Gallant and well-behaved collection of erotic fantasies (1907)
  • Stories from Aretino (private print 1907)
  • The Genouillière portfolio with 15 drawings (1907)
  • Tales on the dressing table Portfolio with 15 drawings (private print 1908)
  • Pictures from the boudoir of Madame CC portfolio with 30 drawings (private print 1912)
  • Lesbian dance portfolio with 6 drawings (private print Budapest 1920)
  • Garden of Aphrodite Portfolio with 18 drawings (no time or place information)
  • 1001 Nights 5 Drawings (Verlag Wilhelm Borngräber; Berlin 1913)

literature

  • Franz von Bayros: The gallant work. Gala Verlag 1967,
  • Franz von Bayros: The purple snail. Gala Verlag 1971,
  • Franz von Bayros: Drawings. Gala-Verlag 1978, ISBN 3-8201-0028-8
  • Franz von Bayros: In the garden of Aphrodite. Erotic drawings and illustrations. Heyne-Verlag 1980, ISBN 3453501942
  • Rudolf Brettschneider: Franz von Bayros, bibliography and descriptive index of his ex-libris. Leipzig 1926

Web links

Commons : Franz von Bayros  - album with pictures, videos and audio files
personal data
SURNAME Bayros, Franz von
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Venu de Bonestoc
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Austrian artist with a delicate graphic style
DATE OF BIRTH May 28, 1866
PLACE OF BIRTH Zagreb
DATE OF DEATH April 2, 1924
Place of death Vienna