Franz von
Lenbach
(b Schrobenhausen, 13 Dec 1836; d Munich, 6 May 1904).
German painter. The son of a master builder, he trained for his father’s
profession at the Königliche Landwirtschafts- und Gewerbeschule in
Landshut, also working from 1851 in the sculpture studio of Anselm
Sickinger (1807–73) in Munich. His elder brother, Karl August Lenbach
(1828–47), had already become involved with painting, and it was through
him that Franz Lenbach met Johann Baptist Hofner (1832–1913), an artist
who had studied at the Akademie der Bildenden Künste in Munich. They
went on sketching expeditions together, and Hofner introduced him to
plein-air painting. After spending two semesters at the
Polytechnische Schule in Augsburg (1852–3), and some months in the
studio of Albert Gräfle (1807–89), a portrait painter in Munich, Lenbach
entered the Akademie in Munich in 1854. In 1857 he attended the classes
of Karl Theodor Piloty (later von Piloty), who was renowned for his
history paintings. Lenbach produced his first important painting, the
Angel Appearing to Hagar in the Desert (1858; destr.), while in this
class, followed by Peasants Trying to Take Shelter from a
Thunderstorm in a Chapel (1858; destr.; oil sketch, Schweinfurt,
Samml. Schäfer). The sale of this picture, together with a scholarship,
enabled him to accompany Piloty on a journey to Rome with Ferdinand von
Piloty (1828–95), Theodor Schüz (1830–1900) and Carl Ebert (1821–85). In
Italy he made many oil and pencil sketches that inspired the Arch of
Titus (1860; Budapest, Mus. F.A.) and the Shepherd Boy (1860;
Munich, Schack-Gal.), both of which were finished after his return to
Germany.
