Max Klinger (born February 18, 1857 – died July 5, 1920) is a German artist who worked in the XIX-XX centuries, a prominent representative of Symbolism and early Art Nouveau, a famous engraver and sculptor, a predecessor of surrealism. The work of Max Klinger is an interesting journey into the world of fantasies and dreams. Art critics describing the biography of Max Klinger note that the whole complex process of transformation of an academic draftsman into a bold and unconventional master who creates amazing works of art can be traced from his paintings and sculptures.
Biography of Max Klinger
Max Klinger was born on February 18, 1857. Accurate data about his childhood and about the artist’s family has not been preserved. It is known that in 1874 he entered the art academy in Karlsruhe, where until 1875 he studied art under the famous genre painter Karl Gussow. Then he moved to Berlin and entered the capital’s Academy of Arts.
After graduation, Max Klinger settled in Leipzig, traveled frequently and brought new experiences from each trip. So, during his stay in Brussels in 1879, he worked with the Belgian portrait painter Emile Charles Wauters. The painter devoted 1883-1886 to Paris, where he studied the works of old masters exhibited in the Louvre, copied the works of Francisco Goya and Honoré Daumier. The period from 1888 to 1893 Max Klinger spent in Rome, where he became friends with Arnold Böcklin (Arnold Böcklin) and “infected” from him the ideas of symbolism.
The work of Max Klinger can be roughly divided into several stages – in the early years he was under the influence of romantic historicism, and painted a large-scale painting “The Death of Caesar.” Then the artist worked in a mixed style, a kind of mix of “conservative” modernity, academism and fantasy, vivid examples of which can be called “The Judgment of Paris” and “The Crucifixion”.
Klinger devoted a significant part of his life to engraving
He completely dropped conventions and created several memorable series, one of which is dedicated to Christianity. Since the beginning of the 20th century, Max Klinger has been closely engaged in sculpture, using alabaster, ivory, marble, bronze and gold in his work. He creates small busts, statues, large-scale monuments.
Max Klinger showed himself as a multifaceted creative person who sees the beauty of nature in all its manifestations. An excellent draftsman, sculptor and engraver, he was also an excellent craftsman in the processing of precious stones and metal, composed music and wrote a book on art called Painting and Drawing (Malerei und Zeichnung, 1891).
The genius passed away on July 5, 1920, and his old house in Leipzig was converted into a museum that receives visitors from all over the world today.
The most famous paintings, prints and sculptures by Max Klinger
Paintings and sculptures by Max Klinger are the decoration of any collection focused on symbolism and modernity.
The talented painter and sculptor raised in his work plots from mythology, classical and modern literature, actively used allegory, inhabited his works with fantastic creatures. Among the most striking works of Max Klinger:
- The Death of Caesar (1879) is Klinger’s first serious painting to be recognized by the public and central to the history of German art as an example of historical symbolism.
- Paraphrases to a Found Glove (1881) is a cycle of engravings about the insanity of a young man who fell in love with a woman’s glove. The series in the form of ink drawings was created in 1878, when Max Klinger turned 21, and was first presented to the public at the Berliner Kunstverein gallery.
- “Blue Hour” (1886-1890) – a work that the master populated with mermaids, bears a resemblance to the surreal paintings of Pablo Picasso.
- Salome (1893) is a mythological subject in the nude genre. The work is kept in the Leipzig Museum of Fine Arts.
- “Christ on Olympus” (1897) – the triptych uses Klinger’s favorite theme – religious mythology. The work is kept in the Gallery of Austrian Painting.
