STUCK, Franz von, Featured Paintings in Detail

STUCK, Franz von

Featured Paintings in Detail

STUCK, Franz vonLucifer 1890Oil on canvas, 161 x 152.5 cm National Gallery for Foreign Art, Sofia

STUCK, Franz vonLucifer (detail)1890Oil on canvas, 161 x 152.5 cm National Gallery for Foreign Art, Sofia

STUCK, Franz vonThe Kiss of the Sphinx1905Oil on canvas, 60 x 144.8 cm Szépmüvészeti Múzeum, Budapest

STUCK, Franz vonThe Kiss of the Sphinx (detail)1905Oil on canvas, 60 x 144.8 cm Szépmüvészeti Múzeum, Budapest

STUCK, Franz vonThe Sin1893Oil on canvas, 94.5 × 59.5 cm Neue Pinakothek, Munich

STUCK, Franz vonThe Sin (detail)1893Oil on canvas, 94.5 × 59.5 cm Neue Pinakothek, Munich

STUCK, Franz vonWounded Amazon 1903Oil on cavvas, 62.8 x 72.7 cm Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam

STUCK, Franz vonWounded Amazon (detail)1903Oil on cavvas, 62.8 x 72.7 cm Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam

STUCK, Franz vonSalome 1906Oil on canvas, 115,5 × 62,5 cm Städtische Galerie im Lenbachhaus, Munich

STUCK, Franz vonSalome (detail)1906Oil on canvas, 115,5 × 62,5 cm Städtische Galerie im Lenbachhaus, Munich

STUCK, Franz vonGolgotha1917Oil on cavvas, 110.2 x 106 cm Brooklyn Museum, New York City

STUCK, Franz vonGolgotha (detail)1917Oil on cavvas, 110.2 x 106 cm Brooklyn Museum, New York City

STUCK, Franz vonPietà1891Oil on canvas, 95 x 178.5 cm Städelsche Kunstinstitut und Städtische Galerie, Frankfurt

STUCK, Franz vonPietà (detail)1891Oil on canvas, 95 x 178.5 cm Städelsche Kunstinstitut und Städtische Galerie, Frankfurt

STUCK, Franz vonWild Chase1889Oil on panel, 53 x 84 cm Städtische Galerie im Lenbachhaus, Munich

STUCK, Franz vonWild Chase (detail)1889Oil on panel, 53 x 84 cm Städtische Galerie im Lenbachhaus, Munich

STUCK, Franz vonInferno1908Oil on cardboard, 130 x 209 cm Private collection

STUCK, Franz vonInferno (detail)1908Oil on cardboard, 130 x 209 cm Private collection

STUCK, Franz vonThe Murderer1891 Oil on canvas x46 cmPrivate collection

STUCK, Franz vonThe Murderer (detail)1891 Oil on canvas x46 cmPrivate collection

STUCK, Franz vonSphinx1904Oil on cavvas, 83 × 157 cm Hessisches Landesmuseum, Darmstadt

STUCK, Franz vonSphinx (detail)1904Oil on cavvas, 83 × 157 cm Hessisches Landesmuseum, Darmstadt

STUCK, Franz von, Featured Paintings in Detail

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STUCK, Franz vonSphinx

Stuck realised that without a clear allusion to the mythological theme of the sphinx, a nude woman in this provactive pose might be considered objectionable, and so he gave the title a prominent position, as he had done in Sin. Without this title and without the depcition of the three ages of man on the pedestal, the woman would be stripped

of all mythological significance and could only be distinguished from present-day sun worshippers by her rather tense, cat-like pose.

The critic Fritz von Ostini wrote that the picture was a strange interpretation of the much depicted subject of the sphinx: .. in which the fabled creature appears simly a cat in expression and attitude, false and beautiful, flattering and dangerous. The name of this sphinx is - Woman!

STUCK, Franz vonLucifer

Franz von Stuck’s masterpiece is «Lucifer».

In 1891, when the Bulgarian Ministers saw the recent acquisition of Prince Ferdinand they were so scared that crossed in front of work of art.

The sensing of the viewer of the power of «Lucifer» by Franz von Stuck has not diminished today too. The work painted in oil on canvas in 1890 fascinates and captivates, inspires horror and chills the blood.

The fallen angel is off center, with widely opened, pale, furious eyes gets through the spectators, hypnotizing them. They are as the light source of hot, magmatic, burning inside, as the sparks of the soul, cast into hell. In his muscular nudity he appears strong and courageous, but his head leaning against his left hand opens mind focused in thought, and this

gesture allows you to see the status of searing sadness. He who laid down broken wings, reminiscent of his fall, but chewing revenge is the greatest symbol of the return order. Once divine, now demonic, once loved, and now the enemy, he sees the essence of humanity through material aspects and understands how it can be used to undermine the divine order.

STUCK, Franz vonThe Kiss of the Sphinx

Stuck was one of the founders of the Secession in Munich, 1892. In 1895, the year in which this picture was painted, he was appointed a professor at the Academy of Fine Arts, where Kandinsky and Klee both became his pupils. He was the main exponent of the enigmatic imaginary world of symbolism, a model to follow for the experimenters of

painting in late 19th century Munich.

The lethal embrace of the femme fatale, the sensously attractive, demonic woman is a theme which recurs frequently in his works. Each stylistic device – the composition crammed in a tight, narrow space, the rude colours (which have unfortunately darkened with the passage of time), and the bulky modelling – intensifies the brutal eroticism of

the picture.

STUCK, Franz vonThe SinDie Sünde-The Sin 1893 is housed in the Neue Pinakothek Museum, Munich. It was first exhibited at the Secessionist Exhibition of 1893 and which, at that time, caused a sensation by the controversial nature of the depiction. It is by far his best known painting of which he made many versions in the period of from 1891 to 1912. The main effect of the painting is created by the contrasts in the colours and by the concept of the picture.

In the painting we see a woman who coyly exhibits her bare breasts and stomach which the artist has bathed in light whilst the he has hidden the rest of her body in the darkness of an alcove. A snake lies on her right shoulder and the reptile curves around the back of the woman’s neck and along her left shoulder. The snake symbolises original sin for it was a snake that tempted Eve to eat first the fruit from the tree of knowledge, and then it was she who tempted Adam. The woman in the painting is not a woman but women in general. In this painting the woman, with her snake, represents evil. The woman before us is controlling us, the viewer, us, the voyeur. She is tempting us. We stand still in front of her and cannot avert our eyes. She is mesmerising us. She is inviting us to join her. Are we sucked in by her beauty even though we know the dangers that would follow? The viewer is curious and may be longing for adventure and is willing to submit himself or herself to the attraction of the unknown. If we were to step forward into the painting we would cut off the source of light and all would be dark and we would be left with just the woman and her snake, then what?The massive gilded frame of the painting adds to the contrast with the darkness of the painting itself. Such heavy frames as this one were very common in Jugendstil art, with the artists themselves designing their own frames for their own works of art.

STUCK, Franz vonWounded Amazon

Wounded Amazon depicts a battle between Amazons and centaurs; the particular subject is not found in classical mythology but is of the artist’s own invention. Though he was clearly influenced by the antiquities in Munich’s Glyptothek museum, Stuck based the painting on photographic studies of a model posed in his studio. Ever since he had featured the goddess Athena on the poster for the first Munich Secession exhibition in 1893, classical female warriors had appeared in his work as symbols of the new

art. There are two other versions of this painting. One was installed outside Villa Stuck, the home he had designed for himself in Munich.

STUCK, Franz vonSalome

Opposites attract, so sensuality and disgust fight for precedence in this 1906 painting by Franz Ritter von Stuck. An exotic dancer fills the foreground almost completely. Dressed in just an airy skirt, castanets and jewellery, she tempts us with an erotic pose. In the shadows on her right a troll-like black servant looms up, adding horror and physical contrast. Grinning

vulgarly, the creature presents a severed head on a platter. In life, it belonged to a bearded, longhaired man whose fate as a haloed martyr seems connected with the dancer’s triumphant attitude.

Both the living and the dead share a glittering, star-studded night for a backdrop. While this may symbolize a saintly hereafter, it also warns against imminent danger: the girl’s glamour seems close but is out of reach, and there is only cold, deep darkness beyond.

The ambiguous scene is inspired by the Gospel story in Mark 6:21-29. When John the Baptist criticized King Herod for illegally marrying Herodias, the divorced wife of his half-brother, the prophet was imprisoned for his efforts. But Herodias was after more serious revenge and pressed her daughter Salome to charm her stepfather with a birthday dance, making him

promise to give her anything she wished. Prompted by her bloodthirsty mother, Salome asked for John’s head on a platter. Herod had to comply.The Salome image has been popular in art for centuries.

Originally intended to create empathy with John’s religious righteousness, it gradually developed a life of its own and became an example of men falling victim to vicious women (before you blame this innocent writer, there were also virtuous tricksters like Judith and Esther!). Especially the artistic and philosophical milieu of the fin de siècle produced a large

repertoire of fatally tempting women. Von Stuck was fascinated with this paradox and painted the Salome theme three times. She epitomized the inherent female ability believed to ‘innocently’ attract, then pervert the male’s soul.

STUCK, Franz vonGolgotha

One of Germany’s leading Symbolists, Stuck frequently painted biblical or mythological subjects that addressed dark themes such as sin and death. Particularly interested in the narrative and details of the Crucifixion, Stuck devoted several canvases to this subject late in his career, during the difficult years of World War I.

Calling on new scholarly theories regarding the Gospel accounts, Stuck departs from tradition and places Christ at eye level with the witnesses to his sufferings. The artist cleverly structures his composition, placing the viewer immediately to the left of the crucified thief in the foreground and to the right of the haloed Virgin Mary, thereby closing a solemn yet intimate

circle.

Stuck also chooses to show Christ with his feet side by side rather than overlapping—again, referencing nineteenth-century debates about the historical details of this method of execution.

STUCK, Franz vonPietà

The painter uses a long canvas in his art researches for different effects. In «Pieta», dead Christ (Stuсk represented himself) lies on a pedestal as in a crypt, but the composition offers inertia, the clenched arms and body showing strength even in death. The perpendicularity of Mary, who buried her face in her hands, reinforces balance between two gender

visions divine, fastening their strength and their loss. Mary’s grief also shows in her aura, is so thin that it seems like it may burst at any time.

STUCK, Franz vonWild Chase

One of Franz von Stuck's best-known paintings The Wild Chase depicts Wotan (Odin, the Allfather of the gods) on horseback leading a procession of the dead. It was completed about 1889, the year of Hitler's birth, and it has acquired a kind of semi-legendary status as the face of Wotan in the painting greatly resembles Hitler's. It's said

Adolf Hitler saw this painting at thirteen and he was fascinated by Wotan, and later had this painting taken from the museum and placed in a special gallery.

STUCK, Franz vonInferno

According to 19th Century philosophers, such as Arthur Schopenauer (1788-1860) and Soren Aabye Kierkegaard (1813-55), the fall of man is perpetuated through the continuing sexual relationships between the genders, casting a shadow on any connection between man and woman and on any joy of life.

Unlike in Lucifer (painted circa 1890), his earlier rendition of the theme of Hell embodied in the resentful figure of Lucifer, the figures in Inferno are not demonic but healthy and muscular, their physical appearance being in sharp contrast to their pose.

As did many late 19th Century artists, von Stuck made use of the new medium of photography. He would take pictures of his models and study the movements and muscles to capture them on a two dimensional surface. In the rendering of these bodies his capabilities as a sculptor are also evident.

STUCK, Franz vonThe Murderer

Inspired by Böcklin's Murderer pursued by Furies, but with an even greater sense of excitement and drama, in 1891 Stuck painted his first version of the despair and remorse which pursue a criminal after his deed. The ancient Furies, the goddesses of vengeance, hide behind a rock as they lie in wait for the murderer who has just killed his victim.

The sight of these ugly creatures is a foretaste of the torments awaiting the murderer. The figure of the murderer is derived from Klinger's etching 'Pursuit' in which a man in a similar pose runs away on a narrow path.

STUCK, Franz vonSelf-Portrait in the Studio1905Oil on panel, 73 x 76 cmNationalgalerie, Berlin

STUCK , Franz Ritter Von

German draughtsman, illustrator, printmaker, decorative artist, painter, sculptor and architect. He was noted for his treatment of erotic and comic aspects of mythological themes. He drew eagerly as a child, soon becoming a gifted caricaturist. From 1878 to 1881 he attended the

Kunstgewerbeschule in Munich, where he received particular encouragement from Ferdinand Barth (1842-1892). From 1881 to 1885 he studied at the Munich Akademie, where he was taught by Wilhelm Lindenschmit (1829-1895) and Ferdinand Löfftz (1845-1910).

During his student years Stuck earned a living from designs for decorative painting, and he made notable contributions (1880-84) to the humorous Munich periodical Fliegende Blätter and to the Viennese serial publications Allegorien und Embleme and Karten und Vignetten.

These did much to establish his reputation as both a skilled and a witty draughtsman.

Around 1892 he became one of the founders of the Munich Sezession and his Symbolist period is also of this decade. Around 1895 he began teaching at the Munich academy that he once attended. Some of his pupils at the academy included Klee, Albers, and Kandinsky. Among Von

Stuck's architectural creations is the Villa Stuck Prinzregentenstrasse, Munich, which is now a museum.

Stuck's subject matter was primarily drawn from mythology, inspired by the work of Arnold Böcklin. Large, heavy forms dominate most of his paintings and point toward his proclivities for sculpture. His seductive female nudes, in the role of the femme fatale, are a prime example of popular Symbolist content. Stuck paid close attention to the frames for his paintings and generally designed them himself with such careful

use of panels, gilt carving and inscriptions that the frames must be taken as an integral part of the overall piece.

Some painters, who understand the general idea, can turn it only in one masterpiece, but the true quality of a great painter is the ability to create whole worlds from a single idea. Franz von Stuck studied humanity, not only in heaven and hell, but here on Earth through biblical

history, ancient myths and colorful traditions of Europe.

Unfortunately, not always great ideas analyzed correctly. Any list that includes Wagner and Nietzsche’s names runs the risk of being listed as a fascist ideology. Franz von Stuck’s art caught sight once to Adolf Hitler shortly after the painter died. Of course, Hitler saw in it only what he wanted to see, distorting its meaning for the sake of own purposes. On a twist of fate von Stuck joined after World War I requirements

imposed to allies to forgive Germany for the sake of the cultural and art heritage perverted by Nazis two decades later. But if art again and again tells something to new generations, it means eternal truths which embodied Franz von Stuck. It is difficult to look away from his works

which always strike with a powerful force of nature of the person.

STUCK, Franz von, Featured Paintings in Detail

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