Franz von Bayros

Who was Franz von Bayros?

Franz von Bayros was an Austrian commercial artist, illustrator, and painter best known for his controversial Tales at the Dressing Table portfolio. Von Bayros belonged to the Decadent movement in art, often relying on erotic themes and phantasmagoric imagery.

Von Bayros was born in Zagreb, in present-day Croatia. At the age of 17, he passed the entrance exam for the Vienna Academy with Eduard von Engerth. Von Bayros mixed in elegant society and soon belonged to the circle of friends of Johann Strauss II, whose stepdaughter Alice he married in 1896. The next year, von Bayros moved to Munich. In 1904, von Bayros gave his first exhibition in Munich, which was a great success. From 1904 until 1908, von Bayros travelled to Paris and Italy for his studies. Returning to Vienna, he felt himself a stranger. The outbreak of the First World War was yet another setback for von Bayros. The artist died at Vienna, from a cerebral hemorrhage.