Otto Greiner, “Odysseus and the Sirens”, 1902
The images are from a color reproduction of a large-scale painting by Otto Greiner done in 1902. The original painting was lost from the Museum der Bildenden Künste, Leipzig, Germany, during World War II.
Born in Leipzig, Germany, in 1869, Otto Greiner was a painter and printmaker. His work is based on careful graphic preparation and, in particular, on accurate life drawing of figures. He began an lithography apprenticeship in Leipzig in 1884 and also took lessons in drawing. Between 1888 to 1891, Greiner studied at the Akademie der Blidenden Künste in Munich under Sándor Liezen-Mayer, a Hungarian-born German illustrator and painter of historical scenes.
In the autumn of 1891, Otto Greiner made his first journey to Italy, visiting Florence and Rome, where he met and befriended German symbolist painter and printmaker Max Klinger. Returning to Germany, he worked in Munich and Leipzig between 1892 and 1898, when he traveled back to Rome, using Klinger’s former studio and living there until 1915. Forced by Italy fighting against Germany in World War I, Greiner returned to his homeland.
Greiner produced 112 paintings, the majority devoted to antique and fantastic subjects, and portraiture. He died in Munich in September of 1916.