SwissArtGallery · Documented identity
Gabriel von Max, an Austrian painter born in Prague in 1840 and deceased in Munich in 1915, also taught the history of painting at the Academy of Fine Arts in Munich. His work addresses anthropology, parapsychology and mysticism; convinced by Darwinism, he kept and observed monkeys, which he also used as models.
His training began at the Academy of Fine Arts in Prague, where he enrolled at the age of fifteen and studied for three years with Eduard von Engerth. Recommended by him, he was admitted to the Academy in Vienna in 1858 and worked there with Karl von Blaas, Karl Mayer, Christian Ruben and Carl Wurzinger; from 1863 to 1867, he studied under Karl von Piloty in Munich.
Dated works include Der Anatom (1869), listed at the Neue Pinakothek in Munich, Gretchen in der Walpurgisnacht (1873), Die Kindesmörderin (1877) and Christus erweckt des Jairus Töchterlein, also titled The Resurrection of the Daughter of Jairus (1878), held at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts. Sieg der Wahrheit is dated 1904. Other works are recorded in public collections: Die Nonne im Klostergarten at the Kunsthalle in Hamburg, Affen als Kunstrichter at the Neue Pinakothek in Munich, Mädchen, Pilze putzend at the Städtische Galerie im Lenbachhaus in Munich, Die Schwestern at the Nationalgalerie in Berlin and Porträt eines Mädchens at the National Gallery in Athens. Saure Erfahrung (Acid Experience), described as depicting a small monkey with a lemon, is dated to around 1890; Pithecanthropus alalus, oil on canvas, bears the date 1894. The ecstatic virgin Anna Katharina Emmerick is dated 1885. The Martyrdom of Saint Ludmila is held at the Memorial Art Gallery of the University of Rochester, which acquired it in 2015 from the Lawrence Steigrad gallery in New York. In 1895, Max received the Order of Maximilian of Bavaria for Science and Art.
This profile brings together identity references for Gabriel von Max and paintings, drawings and works on paper documented in auction catalogues.
5 references are documented at Schuler, Lempertz, Dobiaschofsky. Each record links to its source; the amounts are not a general valuation of the artist’s work.
Oil on wood
Bildnis einer jungen Frau
Öl auf Holz
Auction date : 2020-03-18
Published result : 1860 EUR
Including buyer’s premium
Estimate : 2000
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Oil on canvas over cardboard
Portrait einer jungen Frau
Öl auf Leinwand über Karton
Catalogue period : 2017-06-19
Published result : 1100 CHF
Fees not specified in the available data
Estimate : CHF 400–600
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Oil on canvas
Portrait einer jungen Frau in einem ovalen Medaillon aus Blütenzweigen
Öl auf Leinwand
Catalogue period : 2017-03-24
Published result : 2800 CHF
Fees not specified in the available data
Estimate : CHF 2500–3000
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Oil on canvas over cardboard
Portrait einer jungen Frau
Öl auf Leinwand über Karton
Catalogue period : 2017-03-24
Catalogue reference — sale not confirmed
Estimate : CHF 800–1200
View the lot at the auction house ↗These references are shown separately because of their attribution or lot composition. Each record states the reason.
Oil on canvas
Kopie nach
Öl auf Lwd.
Attribution ou qualification signalée dans le catalogue
Date to be documented
Attribution recorded in catalogue
Published result : 750 CHF
Fees not specified in the available data
Estimate : CHF 1400
View the lot at the auction house ↗SwissArtGallery documentary note based on the cited sources. Titles, media and qualifications are provided in the profile language; the original catalogue wording remains available in each record.
Documentation updated : 2026-10-19
