Gabriel von Max

* 23.08.1840 in Prague; ✝ 24.11.1915 in Munich

Painter, Professor of Historical Painting

Biography

Gabriel Max was a student in Prague, Vienna and Munich. He studied under Carl Theodor von Piloty at the Fine Arts Academy, and made the acquaintance of Hans Makart, Franz von Defregger and Franz von Lenbach. Von Piloty and Makart went on, like Max himself, to become members of the German Shakespeare Society.  His painting dealt with psychological themes, often displaying those spiritual and religious motifs which he found among existences alienated from normal human life. For example, he was inspired by Shakespeare to paint Julia Capulet on the Morning of her Wedding, which shows Romeo’s beloved lying dead in her bed, poisoned. 

In 1879 he was made Professor of Historical Painting at the Munich Academy, a role which he resigned, however, four years later. A further honor was the Order of Maximilian for Science and Art.

• Der Anatom (1869).
• Verblüht (1870).
• Julia Capulet am Hochzeitsmorgen (1873).
• Die Schwestern (1876).
• Sieg der Wahrheit (1904).

Literature

Secondary Literature

• Althaus, Karin/Friedel, Helmut (ed.): Gabriel von Max. Malerstar, Darwinist, Spiritist. München, 2010.
• Danzker, Jo-Anne Birnie (ed.): Gabriel von Max. Seattle, 2011.

Album pages with this person

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