Maximilian Lenz
{{Short description|Austrian artist (1860–1948)}}
{{about||the German musician born Maximilian Lenz|WestBam|the German historian|Max Lenz}}
File:Maximilian Lenz - A World - Google Art Project.jpg
Maximilian Lenz (4 October 1860 – 19 May 1948) was an Austrian painter, graphic artist and sculptor. Lenz was a founding member of the Vienna Secession; during his career's most important period, he was a Symbolist, but later his work became increasingly naturalistic. He worked in a variety of media, including oils, watercolours, lithography and metal reliefs.
Life
File:Maximilian-Lenz-1902-copper-relief-from-the-14th-Exhibition-of-the-Vienna-Secession-(2).jpeg
Lenz was born in Vienna. He studied at the Kunstgewerbeschule in Vienna, then at the Academy of Fine Arts, Vienn
In 1897, Lenz left the Künstlerhaus to become a founding member of the Vienna Secession,{{ cite journal | journal = Ver Sacrum | title = Ordentliche Mitglieder |trans-title=Ordinary Members | year = 1898 | volume = 1 | page = 28 | url = http://digi.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/diglit/vs1898/0032 }} and his work for the group's first exhibition was hailed as "outstanding".{{ cite journal | url = http://digi.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/diglit/kunstchronik1898/0186 | page = 355 | volume = 22 | date = 21 April 1898 | title = Die erste Ausstellung der "Vereinigung bildender Künstler Österreichs" | journal = Kunstchronik: Wochenschrift für Kunst und Kunstgewerbe | author = Wilhelm Schölermann }} His 1899 painting, A World (Eine Welt, also translated as A Day Dream), draws on the time's prevailing currents, including dreamlike and fantastic imagery painted in intense colour. It was shown at the Fourth Exhibition of the Vienna Secession in spring 1899,{{ cite journal | title = Liste der verkauften Werke | url = http://digi.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/diglit/vs1899/0224 | page = 32 | year = 1899 | volume = 6 | journal = Ver Sacrum }} and received critical praise for its "graceful charm and dreamy yet sparkling beauty"{{ cite journal | pages = 131–132 | title = Studio-Talk | journal = Studio: International Art | year = 1899 | issue = 76 | url = http://digi.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/diglit/studio1899b/0157 }} and its mood of "pure grace and musical euphony".{{ cite journal | page = 356 | url = http://digi.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/diglit/kunstchronik1899/0186 | volume = 23 | title = Die Frühjahrs-Ausstellungen der Secession und des Künstlerhauses in Wien | date = 27 April 1899 | journal = Kunstchronik: Wochenschrift für Kunst und Kunstgewerbe | author = Wilhelm Schölermann }} The painting was also shown in winter 1911-12 with the Munich Secession.{{ cite journal | author = Georg Jacob Wolf | title = Winterausstellung der Münchener Secession | url = http://digi.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/diglit/kfa1911_1912/0299 | page = 274 | date = 15 March 1912 | journal = Die Kunst für alle: Malerei, Plastik, Graphik, Architektur | volume = 12 }}
Having shown his picture On the Way to Wonderland at the Tenth Exhibition of the Vienna Secession in 1901{{ cite journal | journal = Ver Sacrum | title = Liste der verkauften Werke | pages = 209–210 | date = 1901 | volume = 12 | url = http://digi.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/diglit/vs1901/0243 }} and the Thirteenth Exhibition in spring 1902,{{ cite journal | author = B Zuckerkandl | pages = 297–299 | url = http://digi.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/diglit/kfa1902/0323 | title = Wiener Ausstellungen | volume = 13 | date = 1 April 1902 | journal = Die Kunst für alle: Malerei, Plastik, Graphik, Architektur }} at the Secession's Fourteenth Exhibition in the summer of that year (the 'Beethoven exhibition') he showed a number of reliefs in various metals, which were noted as beautiful and inventive.{{ cite journal | page = 480 | journal = Deutsche Kunst und Dekoration | year = 1902 | url = http://digi.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/diglit/dkd1902/0196 | author = Joseph August Lux | title = Klinger's Beethoven und die moderne Raum-Kunst }} Some of his copper panels were also shown at the 1904 World's Fair in St Louis.{{ cite journal | url = http://digi.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/diglit/kfa1903_1904/0303 | title = Von Ausstellungen und Sammlungen | journal = Die Kunst für alle: Malerei, Plastik, Graphik, Architektur | date = 15 March 1904 | page = 286 | volume = 12 }}
File:Maximilian Lenz - Sommerlust (1906).jpeg
However, a foray, together with various other Secession artists, into woodcuts for the Beethoven exhibition catalogue was panned as "rough" and more like the work of an amateur than an experienced painter, albeit enthusiastic and not totally without merit.{{ cite journal | pages = 73–74 | url = http://digi.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/diglit/gk1908/0088 | author = Karl Michael Kuzmany | journal = Die Graphischen Künste | year = 1908 | title = Jüngere österreichische Graphiker, [2]: II. Holzschitt }}
With Gustav Klimt, Lenz visited Ravenna in the winter of 1903-04, where they saw and were influenced by the golden mosaics.{{ cite book | page = 32 | title = Relazioni | author = Günther Berger | publisher = Peter Lang | year = 2009 | isbn = 9783631569221 }} At the Twentieth Exhibition in 1904, Lenz's painting Iduna's Apples, was considered to be one of the highlights amongst the paintings shown, along with the works of Klimt and Rudolf von Alt. The large painting, similar in style to Aubrey Beardsley, created a "gorgeous" effect of gold and black: a black-haired woman sits in a lush landscape, wearing only a golden crown and sat on a golden cloak, holding Iduna's apple—also golden—in her hands.{{ cite journal | title = Wiener Brief | pages = 373–374 | journal = Kunstchronik: Wochenschrift für Kunst und Kunstgewerbe | url = http://digi.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/diglit/kunstchronik1904/0195 | volume = 23 | date = 29 April 1904 | author = Ludwig Hevesi | author-link = Ludwig Hevesi }} Within the Secession, for the first decade Lenz was a Pre-Raphaelite influence; after 1910, his work showed more naturalism, and he moved away from the foreground after 1918.
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File:Maximilian Lenz - Frühlingsreigen (1913).jpeg
Lenz served on the Secession's official committee in 1905{{ cite journal | url = http://digi.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/diglit/kunstchronik1905/0208 | page = 399 | title = Vermischtes | volume = 24 | date = 19 May 1905 | journal = Kunstchronik: Wochenschrift für Kunst und Kunstgewerbe }} and again in 1906.{{ cite journal | url = http://digi.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/diglit/kunstchronik1906/0214 | page = 411 | volume = 26 | date = 25 May 1906 | title = Vereine | journal = Kunstchronik: Wochenschrift für Kunst und Kunstgewerbe }} He also exhibited with the Secession in spring 1906, showing the Forest King and the Wailing Maiden;{{ cite journal | title = Die Frühjahr-Ausstellung der Wiener Secession | author = Karl Michael Kuzmany | year = 1907 | page = 398 | volume = 17 | journal = Die Kunst für alle: Malerei, Plastik, Graphik, Architektur | url = http://digi.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/diglit/kfa1906_1907/0437 }} in 1907;{{ cite journal | title = Ausstellungen | page = 90 | volume = 6 | date = 23 November 1906 | url = http://digi.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/diglit/kunstchronik1907/0054 | journal = Kunstchronik: Wochenschrift für Kunst und Kunstgewerbe }} in 1908 at the Twenty-Ninth Exhibition;{{ cite journal | url = http://digi.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/diglit/mgvk1908/0033 | page = 29 | date = 1908 | journal = Mitteilungen der Gesellschaft für vervielfältigende Kunst | volume = 2 | title = Ausstellungen | author = Arpad Weixlgärtner | author-link = Arpad Weixlgärtner }} in 1909 and 1910, showing the playful painting Marionnetes;{{ cite journal | title = Die Frühjahr-Ausstellung der Wiener Secession | page = 396 | journal = Die Kunst für alle: Malerei, Plastik, Graphik, Architektur | url = http://digi.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/diglit/kfa1908_1909/0436 | volume = 17 | author = Karl Michael Kuzmany }}{{ cite journal | url = http://digi.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/diglit/kfa1909_1910/0422 | page = 386 | volume = 17 | date = 1 June 1910 | author = Karl Michael Kuzmany | title = Die Frühjahr-Ausstellung der Wiener Secession }} in 1911, showing Concert;{{ cite journal | url = http://digi.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/diglit/kfa1910_1911/0473 | date = 1 July 1911 | page = 436 | volume = 19 | author = Karl Michael Kuzmany | title = Die Frühjahrausstellungen der Wiener Secession und des Hagenbundes }} in 1913;{{ cite journal | url = http://digi.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/diglit/kfa1912_1913/0459 | page = 414 | volume = 18 | date = 15 June 1913 | journal = Die Kunst für alle: Malerei, Plastik, Graphik, Architektur | author = Josef Foinesics | title = Wiener Frühjahrausstellungen }} and as part of a collective exhibition in 1941.{{ cite journal | url = http://digi.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/diglit/kfa1941_1942/0042 | date = 1 October 1941 | title = Anhang | volume = 1 | journal = Die Kunst für alle: Malerei, Plastik, Graphik, Architektur | page = r }}
His 1913 painting A Song of Spring was influenced by the dancer Isadora Duncan's 1904 stay in Vienna, sharing her symbolic themes of cyclic renewal and rebirth and featuring mediaeval costume. These ideas and a connection with dance are also prominent within Klimt's work, and the Symbolist movement as a whole. Lenz also painted religious themes, including The Baptism of the Ethiopians.{{ cite journal | url = http://digi.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/diglit/kk1906/0176 | journal = Kunst und Künstler: Illustrierte Monatsschrift für bildende Kunst und Kunstgewerbe | page = 169 | title = Religiöse Kunst in der Wiener Secession | author = Hugo Haberfeld | year = 1906 }}
During World War I, Lenz created several posters advertising Austro-Hungarian war bonds.{{ cite web | title = Subscribe to the 8th War Loan | publisher = World Digital Library | url = http://www.wdl.org/en/item/4644/ | date = 10 February 2014 | accessdate = 2014-04-04 }}
In 1926, he married painter Ida Kupelwieser (1870–1927), the daughter of the jurist Karl Kupelwieser.{{ cite book | page = 73 | title = Bürgerliche Familien: Lebenswege im 19. und 20. Jahrhundert | author = Hannes Stekl | year = 2000 | publisher = Böhlau Verlag Wien | isbn = 9783205989417 }}
He left the Secession and rejoined the Künstlerhaus in 1938.
Selected works
File:Maximilian-Lenz-1917-Zeichnet-achte-Kriegsanleihe.jpegs, designed by Lenz]]
{{ see also | :Category:Works by Maximilian Lenz (painter) | label 1 = Works by Maximilian Lenz }}
- Spring. Colour lithograph, 1898, 13.97 x 15.08 cm. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (accession number: 1991.847).{{ cite web | title = Spring | url = http://www.mfa.org/collections/object/spring-271727 | accessdate = 2014-04-04 | publisher = Museum of Fine Arts, Boston }}
- A World. Oil on canvas, 1899, 121.5 x 186.0 cm. Museum of Fine Arts, Budapest (accession number: 20.B).
- Woman in White Beneath a Fruited Tree and Woman in Yellow Beneath a Bare-branched Tree. Pen, ink and gouache designs for stained glass windows, c. 1900, 11.8 x 14.7 cm and 11.8 x 14.2 cm. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (accession numbers: 1990.606 and 1990.607).{{ cite web | title = Woman in White Beneath a Fruited Tree | url = http://www.mfa.org/collections/object/woman-in-white-beneath-a-fruited-tree-5011 | accessdate = 2014-04-04 | publisher = Museum of Fine Arts, Boston }}{{ cite web | title = Woman in Yellow Beneath a Bare-branched Tree | url = http://www.mfa.org/collections/object/woman-in-yellow-beneath-a-bare-branched-tree-5012 | accessdate = 2014-04-04 | publisher = Museum of Fine Arts, Boston }}
- The Artist's Studio. Oil on canvas, before 1902, 47.7 x 57.7 cm. Museum of Fine Arts, Budapest (accession number: 39.B).{{ cite web | url = http://www.szepmuveszeti.hu/adatlap_eng/the_artist_studiomaximilian_lenz_529 | accessdate = 2014-04-04 | publisher = Museum of Fine Arts, Budapest | title = The Artis's Studio }}
- Summer Lust. Oil on canvas, 1906, 74.5 x 100 cm.{{ cite web | publisher = im Kinsky | accessdate = 2014-04-04 | title = Maximilian Lenz, 198th Auction - "Valuables" | url = http://www.imkinsky.com/en/app/catalogues/modern-art_198-7/lot0669_maximilian-lenz-.html | url-status = dead | archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20140407080344/http://www.imkinsky.com/en/app/catalogues/modern-art_198-7/lot0669_maximilian-lenz-.html | archivedate = 2014-04-07 }}
- Spring. Oil on canvas, c. 1904, 174.2 x 365.7 cm. National Museum Wales (accession number: NMW A 589).
- A Song of Spring. Oil on canvas, 1913, 162.00 x 201.00 cm.
Gallery
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File:Maximilian-Lenz-1917-Zeichnet-die-sechste-Kriegsanleihe.jpeg|Poster advertising war bonds (1917)
File:Maximilian-Lenz-1902-brass-relief-set-in-marble-and-wood-from-the-14th-Exhibition-of-the-Vienna-Secession.jpeg|Brass relief set in marble and wood from the Fourteenth Exhibition of the Vienna Secession (1902)
File:Maximilian-Lenz-1898-Young-women-with-flowers.jpeg|Young women with flowers (1898). Lithograph for Ver Sacrum
File:Maximilian-Lenz-1902-intarsia-in-beaten-brass-from-the-14th-exhibition-of-the-Vienna-Secession.jpeg|Intarsia in beaten brass from the Fourteenth Exhibition (1902)
File:Maximilian-Lenz-1917-Zeichnet-die-siebente-Kriegsanleihe.jpeg|Another war bonds poster (1917)
File:Maximilian-Lenz-1902-copper-relief-from-the-14th-Exhibition-of-the-Vienna-Secession.jpeg|Copper relief shown at the Fourteenth Exhibition (1902)
File:Maximilian Lenz - Marionneten (c. 1909).jpeg| Marionnetes (c. 1909)
File:Maximilian-Lenz-1898-Crying-woman-sat-under-a-tree.jpeg|Crying woman sat under a tree (1898). Lithograph for Ver Sacrum
File:Maximilian Lenz - Frühlingstreiben (1898).jpeg|Spring Yearning (1898). Illustration for Ver Sacrum
File:Maximilian Lenz - Der Waldkönig und das klagende Mädchen (c. 1907).jpeg|The Forest King and the Wailing Maiden (c. 1907)
References
{{Reflist|35em|refs=
{{cite web | title = A World | url = http://www.szepmuveszeti.hu/adatlap_eng/528 | publisher = Museum of Fine Arts, Budapest | accessdate = 2014-04-04 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150924112655/http://www.szepmuveszeti.hu/adatlap_eng/528 | archive-date = 2015-09-24 | url-status = dead }}
{{ cite web | title = Spring | publisher = National Museum Wales | accessdate = 2014-04-04 | url = http://www.museumwales.ac.uk/art/online/?action=show_item&item=1208 }}
{{ cite encyclopaedia | title = Lenz, Maximilian | year = 1970 | volume = 5 | pages = 139–140 | encyclopaedia = Österreichisches Biographisches Lexikon 1815–1950 }}
}}
- {{ cite thesis | author = H Buchner Kopper | title = Maximilian Lenz. Ein Maler im Licht/Schatten Guatav Klimts | year = 2001 | publisher = Klagenfurt University | type = dissertation }}
{{Vienna Secession}}
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Category:Austrian graphic designers
Category:Austrian lithographers
Category:Austrian male sculptors
Category:Members of the Vienna Secession
Category:Academy of Fine Arts Vienna alumni
Category:19th-century Austrian painters
Category:19th-century Austrian male artists
Category:Austrian male painters
Category:20th-century Austrian painters
Category:20th-century Austrian sculptors
Category:19th-century Austrian sculptors
Category:20th-century Austrian male artists