The Strange World of Franz von Stuck

Wild Chase

Salome

Autumn Evening

The Sphinx

The Kiss of The Sphinx

Franz von Stuck  1863 - 1928

Sensuality

Seaside Sunset

Born in Bavaria, Germany, Franz Stuck was made a peer of the Bavarian Crown in 1905 and entered the art establishment after an early career as a co-founder of the Munich Secession, related to it's contemporary in Vienna but instead of being centred on decorative Symbolism the Munich branch was more intense, incorporating Symbolism and Expressionism. Influenced by Bocklin, von Stuck delighted in images of eroticism and femmes fatales, his most famous images being of women and snakes - surely the precursor to the work of Frank Frazetta many years later. He also painted some very moody and atmospheric landscapes.There is a book of his work published in 1995 by Taschen which is probably out of print now but possibly old copies can be bought on Amazon.