Leo PUTZ ✿

Leo Putz (1869-1940) was a Tyrolean painter. His work encompasses Art Nouveau, Impressionism and the beginnings of Expressionism. Female figures and landscapes are his predominant subjects.

His father, Karl Putz, was the Mayor of Merano. He began his studies at the age of sixteen at the Academy of Fine Arts Munich, where he studied with the history painter Gabriel von Hackl. Convinced that he had great talent, his father sent him to the Académie Julian in Paris.

After military service, he returned to Munich and studied with Paul Hoecker. He opened his first studio in 1897. That same year, he became a member of the Munich Secession. He worked with the weekly magazine Jugend and many of his paintings were reproduced on the magazine's title page. During this time, he also worked as a commercial artist, creating many posters in Art Nouveau style and billboards for the Moderne Galerie München.

In 1905 Putz was appointed professor at the Munich Academy of Art. in 1913 he married the painter Frieda Blell. From 1929 to 1933 he lived and worked South America. Putz openly opposed National Socialism, which his work as 'Entartete Art' commented on. He died in 1940 after surgery at the age of 71.

His works are exhibited in various German and Austrian museums, including the Münchner Stadtmuseum and the Städtische Galerie im Lenbachhaus, but also in the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes, for example Buenos Aires.