Maximilian Lenz
Maximilian Lenz (born October 4, 1860 in Vienna ; † May 18, 1948 ibid) was an Austrian painter, graphic artist and sculptor. He was a founding member of the Vienna Secession .
life and work
Lenz was born on October 4, 1860 at Josefstädter Strasse 23 in Vienna . He was the son of the master shoemaker Vincent Lenz and his wife Anna Theresia, née Krzbelka. Lenz had two sisters, Leopoldine Anna and Emma (the latter died at the age of 26) and a brother who also died early.
Maximilian Lenz's talent was awakened and recognized at an early stage - also through his father's artistic interest. At the age of 14 he attended the arts and crafts school for three years before he was accepted at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna at the age of 17 . In the following years Maximilian Lenz continued to develop under the influence of various teachers, he received awards and several well-endowed scholarships that enabled him, among other things, to spend two years in Italy - primarily in Rome . In 1886, at the invitation of the Viennese engraver Schirnböck , Lenz accepted a work assignment in Buenos Aires , where he is said to have produced banknote designs for the central bank and published numerous illustrations in the magazine "El Sudamericano". He was shaped by the revolution that was ruling at the time, which he recorded in several works. Back in Vienna, Lenz became part of the developing artist scene there. Artists' associations emerged (such as the Hagen Society ) which gradually created a countercurrent to the conservative line of the Künstlerhaus , from which the Vienna Secession finally emerged in 1896/1897 .
The second exhibition in 1898 also marked the opening of Joseph Maria Olbrich's own building, the lovingly named " Krauthappel " . Until the breakaway of the Symbolists led by Gustav Klimt (1905), against which Lenz joined the group of naturalists led by Josef Engelhart , he created several works of art in numerous exhibitions at the Secession. This is probably how his most impressive works emerged from this artistically fertile phase. In 1903 he went on a trip to Northern Italy with Gustav Klimt, which had a lasting impact on Klimt (Golden Period), but also on Maximilian Lenz, at least for a short time, artistically.
In 1904 Maximilian Lenz moved to Lower Austria, where he took up the post of "court painter" as a drawing teacher for the respected family Kupelwieser . One of the most artistically gifted family members was Ida Kupelwieser (1870–1927), who married Lenz at the age of 66 in 1926 in Vienna, but was struck from his life four months later by a stroke. In addition to short stays in Vienna, he spent his twilight years at the Kyrnberg family estate of the Kupelwieser family in Pyhra near St. Pölten before he died in Vienna in 1948 at the age of 88.
Works
- One World (1899)
- Sirk corner (1900)
- Spring (1904)
- Iduna (1904)
- Theater curtain of the National Theater in Iași , Romania
- Justitia, ceiling painting of the Justizpalast Vienna, burned down in 1927
literature
- Matulla: Lenz Maximilian. In: Austrian Biographical Lexicon 1815–1950 (ÖBL). Volume 5, Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, Vienna 1972, p. 139 f. (Direct links on p. 139 , p. 140 ).
- H. Buchner-Kopper: Maximilian Lenz. A painter in the light / shadow of Gustav Klimt. Dissertation. University of Klagenfurt 2001.
Web links
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Lenz, Maximilian |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Austrian painter, graphic artist and sculptor |
| DATE OF BIRTH | October 4, 1860 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Vienna |
| DATE OF DEATH | May 18, 1948 |
| Place of death | Vienna |