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Albin Egger-Lienz

Biographical Overview

1868
1868

Born on January 29 in Stribach, the Dölsach municipality near Lienz as the illegitimate child of Maria Trojer and Georg Egger, christened with the name Ingenuin Albuin Trojer. He grows up with his father, who is a photographer, and his family.


Illustration: Albin Egger-Lienz, Portrait of the artist’s mother, Maria Trojer, 1895 (Bozner Kunstauktionen, 2./3.12.2022, no. 481)

1877
1877
Is given his father’s family name. As an adolescent, his father gives him his first instructions in drawing and painting.
1882–1884
1882–1884
Painting instruction with Hugo Engl, a student of Franz von Defregger.
1884–1893
1884–1893
Studies at the Academy of Fine Arts in Munich with Karl Raupp, Gabriel von Hackl and Wilhelm von Lindenschmit. He calls himself Egger-Lienz for the first time in 1891.
1894–1899
1894–1899
Actively working as an independent painter in Munich. His first realistically influenced works emerge with genre scenes and motifs of the Tyrolean Rebellion of 1809. Multiple awards for
“Ave nach der Schlacht am Bergisel” (Prayer after the Battle of Bergisel).
1899–1911
1899–1911
Based in Vienna. Marries Laura von Egger-Möllwald in 1899. The marriage produces three children: Lorli, Fred and Ila. In 1900 receives bronze medal for “Feldsegen” (Field Blessing) at the World Exhibition in Paris. In 1901 first presentation of “Das Kreuz” (The Cross) in Munich. In 1904 transitions to his monumental period with “Totentanz Anno Neun” (Danse Macabre Anno Nine), among others. 1908-1910 member of the Vienna Secession.
1912–1913
1912–1913
After the heir to the throne Franz Ferdinand prevents him from getting a position at the Vienna Academy, Egger-Lienz accepts a professorship at the Weimar Academy of Art. In reaction to accusations that he is an imitator of the Swiss painter Ferdinand Hodler, he strongly criticizes avant-garde artists (Hodler-fight).
1913
1913
Travels to Holland and moves to St. Justina near Bolzano.
1915–1918
1915–1918

Active as a “civilian war painter” following a two-week deployment as a rifle guard in Riva’s border region. Paints “Den Namenlosen 1914” (The Nameless 1914), “Finale” and “Kriegsfrauen” (War Women), which were far from the common propaganda images of the time and belong to the most important works of World War I.


Illustration: Albin Egger-Lienz with the "Standschützen" of Bolzano, 1915 (Bozner Kunstauktionen 25/26 May 2018, No. 358)

1919
1919
Turns down a position at the Vienna Academy, which he does again in 1925.
1919–1926
1919–1926

The last period is the peak of his work as a painter. Thought images with “inherent contemplation” emerge: “Generationen” (Generations), “Tischgebet” (Dinner Prayer), “Mütter” (Mothers), “Christi Auferstehung” (Christ’s Resurrection), “Pietà”. 1922 he is awarded the grand prize at the Venice Biennale. 1925 receives an honorary doctorate from Innsbruck University and honorary citizenship in Lienz.

1926
1926
Albin Egger-Lienz dies on November 4th in St. Justina. He receives an honorary grave in Lienz’s war memorial chapel that he had painted himself.