Friedrich König

Vienna 1857 - 1941 Vienna

Friedrich König was born in Vienna in 1857 and began his studies at the Viennese School of Arts and Crafts, but attended the Academy of Fine Arts under Christian Griepenkerl, August Eisenmenger and Carl von Blaas from 1878 to 1883, as well. Furthermore, he was a student at the Academy of Munich. After travelling to Italy, Germany, Spain and France, he worked as an illustrator in Vienna.
König was one of the founding members of the Vienna Secession and was thus close to fellow artists like Josef Engelhart, Rudolf Bacher and Maximilian Lenz. He designed the interior decoration of the first exhibition of the Secession in 1897 and created posters and pictures for the magazine “Ver Sacrum”. König’s works are best known for his figural scenes and dainty landscapes.
The artist’s work was not only exhibited at the Secession, but also in international exhibitions, such as the Great Art Exhibition in Dresden, at the Glaspalast in Munich and the international art exhibition in Rome.
In 1897, König became member of the “Haagengesellschaft” and in 1939 of the Vienna Künstlerhaus. Friedrich König died in Vienna in 1941.