Many of his paintings are titled simply, and feature striking depictions that leap out at the viewer. In addition to Greek mythological creatures, Stuck was fascinated with capturing human tangible emotions (such as anguish) in Biblical imagery. Other female renderings show an Amazonian woman wounded in battle against centaurs or Athena, the goddess of courage, justice, strength and warfare (traditionally masculine traits). Stuck, however, captures the figures in the moment before the act: Holofernes is unconscious while Judith draws his own sword against him – poised to kill, with the fate of many in her hands. Of the more than 100 artistic versions of this story, most feature a beautiful woman holding a severed head – demure, virtuous and victorious. Once inside his tent, Judith drugs him and beheads him. Stuck paints the story of Judith, a beautiful widow who uses her feminine power to seduce Holofernes, an Assyrian general who intends to ruin her town. He renders many Biblical stories where the woman holds the power, either through seduction or warfare. Stuck used mythology and religious iconography to recast the female role in his art contrary to society’s ideas at the time. These images of physical grappling are either for the prize of a female as an example of sexual selection of the strong, or a fight to the death and survival of the fittest. Many of his paintings feature duels between humans or part-humans such as fauns and centaurs – humans literally growing from animals. Stuck was fascinated with Darwin’s idea of man evolving out of beast, but still retaining primal instincts and animal urges. Orpheus charming the animals with his musicĭarwin’s Theory of Evolution and Natural Selection ![]() Stuck believed that this delicate balance between reason and emotion is what makes art that speaks to the human soul. Orpheus climbed Mount Pangaion to worship Apollo at sunrise, but was torn to shreds by maenads, female followers of Dionysus, for refusing to renounce Apollo. Stuck’s painting Orpheus is a perfect example of the clash of these two ideals: Orpheus was a legendary poet, musician and prophet in ancient Greek myth, and could charm even the stones with the music from his lyre. Combined, the two opposites create “true” tragedy, something that hasn’t been formed since the Greeks. Apollo is the god of the sun, reason and logic, while Dionysus is the god of wine, ecstasy and intoxication. In 1872, Nietzsche published The Birth of Tragedy, which explores the warring and complimentary sides of artistic impulse. Nietzsche’s Apollonian and Dionysian Dichotomy The themes featured in his paintings addressed many of the modern issues of the time as expressed by Darwin, Freud and Friedrich Nietzsche. ![]() In 1889, Stuck debuted his first painting at the Munich Glass Museum, and had his American art debut at the 1893 World’s Columbian Expo in Chicago. Program cover for the Munich Kunstaussellung (artists’ society) Illustrated cover of a Weltgeschichte (world history) book – the figure’s eyes and the stars feature gold embossing. Here Stuck begins exploring the creation of icons and the legendary, biblical and mythical symbols that will later dominate his painting career. ![]() Stuck supplemented his magazine work with providing drawings for book covers, pamphlets and promotional posters. Stuck first became relatively well-known when he began illustrating cartoons for the German weekly satirical magazine, Fliegende Blätter, a publication with 95,000 copies at its peak circulation, and featured other artists such as Wilhelm Busch and Julius Klinger. ![]() He attended the Munich Academy from 1881 to 1885 where he refined his artistic style. Born in Bavaria in 1863, Stuck showed an early talent for drawing and caricature. Franz von Stuck did not begin as a painter, but as a graphic designer and an architect.
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