Lot 1561 D α

Franz Stuck was born on 23rd February 1863 in Tettenweis in Lower Bavaria as the son of a miller. He began studying at the Royal School of Applied Arts in Munich before deciding to become a painter in 1885, and changing his course to painting at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts. However, his attendance there was somewhat sporadic, and he developed his style independently under the influence of Böcklin and Lenbach. Stuck's main earnings during this time came from his illustrations for various books and his caricatures for the Munich-based satire magazine “Fliegende Blätter”.
Stuck became one of the founders of the Munich Secession in 1892, and he later became a professor at the Munich Academy of Fine Arts. His pupils there included Paul Klee and Wassily Kandinsky. In 1898 he arranged for the “Villa Stuck” to be built in Munich after his own designs, and this was to be his home and studio. The entire interior décor of the villa, including the furniture, paintings and sculptures therein, were all based on Stuck's own ideas. In 1906, the artist was awarded the knight's cross of the Order of the Bavarian Crown by Prince Regent Luitpold of Bavaria and with it the artistocratic title “von Stuck”, but this was bound to his person and could not be inherited. Franz von Stuck died a respected painter in 1928 at the age of 65.
Similar to the works of Böcklin, Stuck's paintings also possess a fascinating, mystical aura. The expression of the sitter in this work, which was painted around 1898, is particularly intriguing. The way she looks out towards the beholder appears at first defiant or even derisive, but at the same time, the slight tilt of her chin seems almost flirtatious. The rough painting style reveals every hair of the artist's brush and cloaks the sitter in a coloured swirl, mingling fantasy and imagination. The medallion becomes like a mirror or window from which the sitter appears to gaze.