Franz von Lenbach

Franz von Lenbach (1836–1904) – a German realist painter and portraitist. A pupil of Karl von Piloty, he initially painted from nature. From 1863 to 1868, he copied works by past masters from museums and private collections in Germany, Italy and Spain. After 1868, he devoted himself to painting portraits, his subjects including Richard Wagner, Ferenc Liszt, Hermann von Helmholtz, William Gladstone and Otto von Bismarck. In 1884, in Rome, he painted a portrait of Grieg’s wife, Nina, which the composer esteemed very highly; as a token of his gratitude, he dedicated to Lenbach his Violin Sonata No. 3 in C minor, Op. 45. Lenbach did not complete his portrait of the composer, however, because Grieg was not happy with it.