Maximilian Lenz 1860-1948: Portrait Of A Woman In Blue (vienna Session 1903)

Born in Vienna on October 4, 1860, Lenz first trained at the Kunstgewerbeschule (School of Applied Arts) and then at the Vienna Academy of Fine Arts. A scholarship sent him to Rome in 1886, and he subsequently worked in Buenos Aires in the 1890s designing banknotes, which further honed his skills in graphic design and engraving. A member of the Vienna Secession, Lenz began his career in the more academic setting of the Vienna Künstlerhaus, which he left in 1897 to co-found the Vienna Secession with Gustav Klimt and other progressive artists. He participated in numerous Secession exhibitions and provided illustrations for the magazine Ver Sacrum, playing a significant role in shaping the movement's visual identity. In his most influential period, Lenz was a Symbolist, blending dreamlike imagery, Norse and classical mythology, and decorative atmospheres reminiscent of Art Nouveau. Works such as A World/Eine Welt (1899), Iduna’s Apples and A Song of Spring (1913) show idealized female figures, a refined sense of line and color, and gold and black effects that at times evoke Klimt while retaining a more narrative poetry. After 1910, his style evolved towards a more pronounced naturalism. The work presented dates from Lenz's most sought-after period when he worked at the heart of the Vienna Secession.