Franz Von Stuck Biography | Oil Paintings.

Franz von Stuck from an early age liked to draw, and at the age of fifteen in 1878 he moved to Munich, where he would stay for the rest of his life, to study art, and from 1881 to 1885 Stuck attended the Munich Academy. In 1892 Franz von Stuck was one of the founding members of the Munich Secession, a group of artists who broke from the traditional art teachings. The following year he won acclaim with the critical and public success of what is currently his most popular work, the artistic creation The Sin, and the same year, Stuck was awarded a gold medal at the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago. Ten years after studying at the Academy, in 1895 was teaching painting at the Munich Academy.

Having attained much fame by this time, in 1905 Franz Stuck was awarded the Order of Merit of the Bavarian Crown and was from that point forward known as Franz von Stuck, he would receive further public honors from around Europe during the remainder of his life.

He continued to be well respected among young artists as a professor at the Munich Academy, even after his artistic styles became unfashionable. Franz von Stuck's subject matter was principally from folklore and mythology, inspired by the work of Arnold Böcklin. His tempting female nudes are a prime case of well known Symbolism art.

One of Franz von Stuck's best-known paintings The Wild Chase, depicting Wotan (Odin) on horseback leading a procession of the dead, painted the year of Hitler's birth in 1889, has obtained a kind of semi-legendary status as the face of Wotan in the painting greatly resembles Hitler's.

Franz von Stuck made frequent use of the image of a woman wrapped by a serpent, a bondage image, Hitler was well known to be attracted to images of women in peril. A British Intelligence report compiled on him during the war noted that he appeared to only enjoy circus acts if they involved situations where the woman was in danger.

The number of Franz von Stuck's students who achieved great success only served to enhance the teacher's reputation, notable students of his over the years include Paul Klee, Hans Purrmann, Wassily Kandinsky, Alf Bayrle and Josef Albers. But by the time of his death, von Stuck's importance as an artist had almost been forgotten because his art seemed out of style and irrelevant to a generation that had suffered during the First World War. Not until the 1960's was von Stuck's reputation renewed as the interest in Art Nouveau revived.

Art Movement: Symbolism, Art Nouveau.
Artists Influencing Franz von Stuck: Arnold Böcklin.
He Traveled To France, USA.
Painters Franz von Stuck Influenced: Paul Klee, Hans Purrmann, Wassily Kandinsky, Alf Bayrle, Josef Albers.
Artist Biography compiled by Albert L. Mansour at The World's Artist, with text adapted from Wikipedia.