Franz von Zülow

Franz von Zülow was known to me for his colorful paper cuts with animal motifs. When I found out that he painted furniture, I really wanted to see it and went to the exhibition at Sumerauerhof near St. Florian in Upper Austria. There I was surprised by the picture stories painted on the furniture. Exotic animals, plants and buildings from distant lands combined with rural ornamentation. I was thrilled by this uniqueness.

I learned about his love of experimentation, his inventiveness and his love of folk art. In addition to watercolors, drawings and oil paintings, it was above all the paper cut prints that were decisive for the artist’s early success. In 1907, he patented the paper-cutting technique. He produced woodcuts, lithographs and stencil prints, designed patterns for wallpaper, fabrics and carpets, decorated everyday objects such as ceramics, painted furniture and decorated rooms, designed postcards, monthly magazines and picture books.

Zülow’s work is full of narrative joy and fantasy. The academic painter worked for the Wiener Werkstätte, where he met Gustav Klimt and Josef Hoffmann and was a member of the Vienna Secession. He traveled throughout Europe and North Africa. In the early 1920s, von Zülow was a teacher at the Schleiß ceramic workshops in Gmunden and was their artistic advisor until shortly before his death. In 1933 he was awarded the Austrian State Prize. In 1943/44 he was banned from painting and exhibiting. After the Second World War, he taught at the Linz Art School.

His work for Schleiss Keramik in Gmunden and his marriage brought him to Hirschbach, where he learned to love the landscape, life and people of the Mühlviertel. He bought a house in Hirschbach. When I had business nearby, I found out in the small museum there that von Zülow had left an oil painting in the village church and went to see his house.

Franz von Zülow created a multifaceted and impressive oeuvre. The book “Die Künstler der klassischen Moderne in Österreich” (Artists of Classical Modernism in Austria) states: “Fairytale-like magic and naive brilliance radiate from Zülow’s paintings, an evergreen belief in the power of simple life, a deep love for people and animals.”