Leo von König
{{short description|German painter}}
{{Infobox artist
| name = Leo von König
| image = Leo von König.jpg
| alt =
| caption =
| other_names =
| occupation =
| birth_date = {{birth date|1871|2|28|df=y}}
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1944|4|19|1871|2|28|df=y}}
| birth_place = Braunschweig, German Empire
| death_place = Tutzing, Nazi Germany
| movement = Berlin Secession
| known_for = Portrait painting
}}
Leo Freiherr von König (1871-1944) was a German painter and member of the Berlin Secession.
Biography
Leo was the eldest son of Götz von König, a military officer who later became a General of the Cavalry, and his wife Baroness Hertha von Cramm (1847–1934).
From 1889 to 1894, he attended the Prussian Academy of Art then, from 1894 to 1897, the Académie Julian in Paris, where he studied with Jules Lefebvre and Tony Robert-Fleury.
After 1900, he lived in Berlin. He married one of his students, Anna von Hansemann (1897-1992) and she frequently served as his model.Eva-Maria Herbertz: Leben in seinem Schatten. Frauen berühmter Künstler, (Living in the Shadows; wives of famous painters) Allitera Verlag, München 2009. {{ISBN|978-3-86906-052-1}} He was one of the late comers to the Berlin Secession. Among his best-known portraits are those of Gerhart Hauptmann, Ernst Barlach, Emil Nolde, Käthe Kollwitz and Eugen d’Albert.
He also created portraits of Reichsminister Bernhard Rust and Joseph Goebbels and posed for his friend, the sculptor Arno Breker.
In 1933 he became a Rotarian.{{cite web|title=Freiherr Leo von König |url=https://memorial-rotary.de/members/2072 |accessdate=11 March 2023}}
He represented Germany in one of the art competitions at the 1936 Summer Olympics.{{cite Sports-Reference |url=https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/ko/leo-von-konig-1.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170701060611/http://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/ko/leo-von-konig-1.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=2017-07-01 |title=Leo von König}} He was not well thought of by Adolf Hitler, however, and his works were removed from the "Großen Deutschen Kunstausstellung" at the Haus der Kunst in 1937.{{cn|date=March 2023}} He was commissioned to paint a portrait of Prince Bernhard of Lippe-Biesterfeld in 1938, and stayed with the Dutch royals at Soestdijk Palace.{{cite journal |newspaper = Rotterdamsch Nieuwsblad |title=Prins Bernhard laat zich schilderen. |url=https://resolver.kb.nl/resolve?urn=MMKB32:164695047:mpeg21:p00018 |date=29 June 1938 |accessdate=11 March 2023}}
Von König was nominated by Albert Bormann for the Goethe Medal in 1941, but was not selected. Soon after, he was named an honorary member of the Academy of Fine Arts, Vienna, by Baldur von Schirach.Ernst Klee: Kulturlexikon zum Dritten Reich. Wer war was vor und nach 1945, Fischer Taschenbuch Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 2009 {{ISBN|978-3-596-17153-8}} He was also a member of the Deutscher Künstlerbund.
In 1943, after his studio in Berlin was destroyed by an Allied bombing, he moved to Tutzing, where he died the following year.König, Leo von in: Hans Vollmer (Ed.): Allgemeines Lexikon der Bildenden Künstler des XX. Jahrhunderts. Dritter Band (K-P), E. A. Seemann, Leipzig 1999 (Studienausgabe). {{ISBN|3-363-00730-2}} (S. 80f)
Selected paintings
File:König Leo Fritz Nemitz@Nieders. Landesmuseum20160811.JPG|Portrait of the art historian, Fritz Nemitz
File:Konig-Dance.jpg|Before the Dance
File:Konig-Woman.jpg|Young Woman (his wife, Anna) with a Cat
File:1907 Koenig am Fruehstueckstisch anagoria.JPG|At the Breakfast Table
References
{{Reflist}}
- {{NDB|12|346|347|König, Leo Freiherr von|Christoph Schwingenstein|11877767X}}
External links
{{Commons category|Leo von König}}
- [https://www.artsignaturedictionary.com/artist/leo%20von.k%C3%B6nig Leo von König] @ the Art Signature Dictionary
- [http://www.artnet.com/artists/leo-von-k%C3%B6nig/past-auction-results/5 ArtNet: More works by Von König.]
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Konig, Leo von}}
Category:20th-century German painters
Category:20th-century German male artists
Category:German portrait painters
Category:Artists from Braunschweig
Category:Prussian Academy of Arts alumni