Otto Friedrich, who was born in 1862 in Raab, Hungary, studied at the Vienna Academy of Fine Arts under August Eisenmenger and at the Munich Academy under Wilhelm von Lindenschmidt. Between 1891 and 1894 he undertook extensive study trips to Paris, Spain and North Africa. In 1896 he settled permanently in Vienna and from 1897 was a teacher at the Vienna Women's Academy. In 1897 Otto Friedrich was also one of the founding members of the Vienna Secession, acting as editor for the Secession magazine "Ver Sacrum". Parallel to the emergence of the Vienna Secession, his artistic style changed and he abandoned history painting. His works, often portraits and landscapes, now emphasised the decorative, flat qualities of painting more and more. Today Otto Friedrich is one of the most important representatives of Viennese Art Nouveau. Two of his Ladies' Portraits from the period 1900/1908 are in the collection of the Belvedere.
Literature
Ausstellungskatalog Wien-Berlin, Kunst zweier Metropolen, Österreichische Galerie Belvedere, Wien 2014, S.367 (Kat. Nr. 2 und 3)