Franz von Lenbach

Franz von Lenbach , 1836-1904, German portrait painter. He studied in Munich and Rome and from 1863 to 1868 worked as a copyist of old masters in Italy and Spain. His early work was in genre, but later he devoted himself to portraiture, in a style derivative of Titian and Rembrandt. Lenbach executed portraits of Bismarck, Emperor William I, Field Marshal von Moltke, Pope Leo XIII, Gladstone, Mommsen, Wagner, Liszt, and Johann Strauss. The Metropolitan Museum has A Young Woman and a portrait of Edwin Emerson.

Lenbach, Franz von (1836–1904). German painter. Lenbach was the most successful German portraitist of his day and a dominant figure in the artistic life of Munich in the late 19th century. His splendid house there, which he designed himself, is now a museum—the Lenbachhaus. It displays many examples of his work as well as works that he collected, but its chief attraction is a superb representation of paintings by Jawlensky, Kandinsky, Klee, Macke, Marc, and Gabriele Münter (who presented the collection in 1957).

Lenbach, Franz von (1836–1904). German painter, active mainly in Munich but also in Italy, Vienna, and elsewhere. He painted various subjects, but is remembered chiefly as the most successful German portraitist of his day. His rich Venetian technique combined with his solid, respectful characterization appealed greatly to the prosperous ruling classes of Germany. He painted about a hundred portraits of Bismarck, whom he first met in 1878 and with whom he had a reserved friendship. Lenbach was a dominant figure in Munich's artistic life in the late 19th century; his splendid house there, which he designed himself, is now a museum.