Franz Matsch

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Self-Portrait (1904), Österreichische Galerie Belvedere , Vienna

Franz Josef Karl (Edler von) Matsch (born September 16, 1861 in Vienna , Austrian Empire ; † October 5, 1942 ibid) was an Austrian painter and sculptor of Art Nouveau .

Life

Matsch was born in Vienna in Alservorstadt (today 8th, Laudongasse 27), which in the year of his birth was eliminated from the Alsergrund district formed in 1850 and merged with the Josefstadt district . He was the son of the pledge bearer Karl Matsch. He attended the arts and crafts school from 1875 to 1883 and learned from Michael Rieser , Karl Hrachowina and Ludwig Minnigerode (1847–1930) , among others .

With his school colleague Gustav Klimt and his brother Ernst Klimt , he formed a working group from around 1879 under the name "Künstler-Compagnie". They lived together, presumably until Matsch's marriage, in the 8th district in the garden pavilion of the house at Josefstädter Straße 21 (opposite the theater in der Josefstadt ) and had their studio in the 6th district, Sandwirtgasse 8. (Ernst Klimt died in 1892).

Ceiling painting The Triumph of Achilles in the Achilleion (1892)

Together, Matsch and the Klimt brothers created numerous wall and ceiling paintings, including for buildings on Vienna's Ringstrasse . But they also worked on buildings in Reichenberg , Fiume and for the Achilleion of Empress Elisabeth in Corfu . In 1891, like Gustav Klimt, Matsch became a member of the Vienna Artists' Cooperative (Künstlerhaus) ; Klimt left the Künstlerhaus in 1897 and played a prominent role in founding the Vienna Secession .

In 1895 Franz Matsch married Theresia Anna Kattus , the daughter of a sparkling wine manufacturer; the financial backing of her family and Matsch's success as a portraitist for the upper class led to prosperity and various honors. As recently as 1896, Franz Matsch and the Klimt brothers were listed with their previous addresses in Lehmann's General Housing Gazette ; In 1897 Matsch appeared with a studio in the 19th district, Silbergasse 60, in 1900 in the villa area 19., Hungerberggasse 16, and in 1906 at the adjoining Haubenbiglgasse 3, where he lived until his death.

The German Princes pay homage to Emperor Franz Joseph (1908)

At the height of his work, Matsch was a much sought-after artist. He also painted not only paintings up to ceiling pictures, but also dealt with sculpture and architectural drafts. Considerable work for the imperial family as well as many works for personalities of social life led to fame and honor. He became a court painter. Ten years after graduating from school, he became a professor at the School of Applied Arts in 1893 and remained so until 1902.

The drafts of the so-called faculty pictures for the University of Vienna made by Klimt and Matsch from 1900 onwards , which were commissioned by the Imperial and Royal Ministry of Education, led to a break between the two artists. Klimt's three designs, which he exhibited one after the other at the Vienna Secession , after the scandal over the first picture, Philosophy , painterly even less willing to compromise than before, were violently rejected by university professors and the media on accusations of pornography; Matsch's painting Theology was accepted and is to this day in the University of Vienna. Klimt resigned from the Ministry's commission, returned the fee received with the help of private sponsors and took his three pictures. Matsch was of a calmer nature than the always pushing, uncompromising and therefore controversial Gustav Klimt. While Klimt caused a stir, even scandals, Matsch always stayed within the framework of bourgeois conventions.

Anchor clock on the Hohen Markt, corner of the farmers' market, in Vienna

1911–1914, Matsch designed his most famous work today, the so-called anchor clock (named after an insurance company) on the Hohen Markt in Vienna's old town (1st district), which can be described as a total work of art. The clock in the Art Nouveau style , which was already coming to an end at that time, was designed as a bridge between two houses across the farmers' market (at its confluence with the Hohe Markt), and twelve historical figures from Austrian history each represent an hour and parading along the clock face at lunchtime with music .

In 1912 Franz Matsch was awarded the nobility ( Edler von ); the Nobility Repeal Act of April 3, 1919 ended this honor. After the First World War, Matsch could no longer follow up on his pre-war successes; other artists were in the foreground.

Franz Matsch was buried in the Döblinger Friedhof in Vienna. In 1943, Matschgasse in the 16th district was named in his honor. Today, the anchor clock is one of Vienna's tourist attractions, especially at 12 noon.

Artistic classification

Franz Matsch was a painter and sculptor who, after a historicist beginnings, finally found Art Nouveau , but was strongly influenced by historicism. His artistic work was varied. In addition to painting, he designed fountains and grave monuments and designed hairstyles, draperies and costumes for the famous actress Charlotte Wolter . As a painter, in addition to monumental painting , he was the creator of oil paintings that thematically mainly comprised landscapes , still lifes and portraits .

Works (selection)

Katharina Schratt as "Frau Truth" , 1895
  • Ceiling painting over the staircases of the new Burgtheater , 1886–1888, together with Klimt
  • Antique improviser ( Wien Museum ), 1886/87, oil on canvas
  • Medieval Mysteries Stage (Wien Museum), 1886/87, oil on canvas
  • The interior of the old Burgtheater (Wien Museum), 1887/88, gouache (Gustav Klimt painted the auditorium of the then demolished theater with watercolors and received the Kaiserpreis for it )
  • Gusset and intercolumned pictures in the stairwell of the Kunsthistorisches Museum Vienna , 1891/1892 , together with the Klimt brothers
  • The triumph of Achilles , fresco in the Achilleion in Corfu , 1892
  • Katharina Schratt as "Frau Truth" , 1895, oil on canvas
  • Grave monument of the Matsch family (Vienna, Döblinger Friedhof ), 1897/98
  • Grave monument of the Kattus family (Vienna, Döblinger Friedhof), around 1900
  • Hilda and Franzi Matsch (Vienna, Österreichische Galerie Belvedere ), 1901, oil on canvas, 120 × 105 cm.
  • Resi and Hansi, the artist's children (Wien Museum, inv.no.146.203), 1902, oil on canvas.
  • Prince Ludwig of Hungary , oil on canvas, 1907, private property, Vienna.

literature

Web links

Commons : Franz von Matsch  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ The builder of the anchor watch: Prof. Franz von Matsch , on the website of the Helvetia insurance company in Austria ( Memento from February 21, 2011 in the Internet Archive )
  2. ↑ The Triumph of Achilles ( Memento of December 3, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF; 2.6 MB), www.klphs.uzh.ch, accessed on December 7, 2011
  3. ↑ In the land of plenty of characters in FAZ of August 4, 2016, page 11
personal data
SURNAME Matsch, Franz
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Matsch, Franz Josef Karl Edler von (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Austrian painter and sculptor of Art Nouveau
DATE OF BIRTH September 16, 1861
PLACE OF BIRTH Vienna
DATE OF DEATH October 5, 1942
Place of death Vienna