Figure 1.--This 1906 portrait by Josef Maria Auchentaller depicts his son Peter with a very impressive sail boat. Auchentaller was a prominent figure in the Vienna Secession art movement. It is an exmple of ugendstil (German Art Nouveau) style, characterized by its decorative and organic lines. Peters's cap has an Austrian Navy tally -- SMS Sankt Georg. The ship was recently launnched , the third and final armored cruiser of the Austro-Hungarian Navy. Available scans of this paining have a strong yellow cast. We tried to remove it, but not very successfully.

Josef Maria Auchentaller both painted an created illustratios used for print making. He was born in Vienna (1865). He attended the Technical College in Vienna (1882-86). He was admitted to the Academy of Fine Arts (1890). He excelled at the Academy where he won several awards. He moved to Munich in Germany (1892). There he became acquainted with members of what had become known as the Munich Secession. He began doing illustrations for the important magazine Jugend (Youth). He returned to Vienna (1896). There he joined the Vienna Secession. These secession movements rebelled against the conservatism of the artistic establishment. Auchentaller played an imoprtant role in Austriann graphic arts, embracing the developing Art Nouveau style. He was a member of Ver Sacrum's editorial committee (1900 and 1901). He created two covers and numerous illustrations. He also created the public poster and the catalog cover of the Seventh Exhibition (1900). He was active in the area of arts and crafts. He is best known as a result of a huge frieze for the Fourteenth Secession Exhibition (1902) titled 'Freude schönen Götterfunken'. It was exhibited across from Gustav Klimt's Beethoven Frieze. Because of a daughter's health issues, he took his family to the Italian town of Grado on the Adriatic coast. There he designed many commercial numerous advertising posters. He gradually moved away from the Viennese art community amd then did mostly portrait and landscape painting.

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Created: 8:15 PM 5/16/2026
Last updated: 8:15 PM 5/16/2026