Otto Friedrich

_{Györ 1862 - 1937 Vienna}

Otto Friedrich was born in 1862 in Györ, Hungary. He studied at the Academy of Fine Art in Vienna under August Eisenmenger and Carl Otto Müller as well as at the Academy in Munich under Wilhelm von Lindenschmidt. Between 1891 and 1894 he undertook extensive study trips before finally settling in Vienna in 1896. There, he belonged to the illustrious circle of artists such as Gustav Klimt, Koloman Moser, Josef Hoffmann, Joseph Maria Olbrich, and Max Kurzweil who founded the Wiener Secession in 1897. He also contributed to the movement’s journal Ver Sacrum.
Friedrich’s main occupation, however, was teaching at the Wiener Frauenakademie (the Viennese Women’s Academy, where Broncia Koller was probably his best-known student).
Otto Friedrich is an important artist of Viennese Art Nouveau who, due to the scarcity of his works, is less known than many of his contemporaries. His significance as a painter of this period, however, is beyond doubt. Paintings by Otto Friedrich can be seen at the Österreichische Galerie Belvedere in Vienna for instance. In 1937 the artist died in Vienna.