14 Works, Today, April 7th is artist Ferdinand Leeke’s day, his story, illustrated with footnotes #96
Apr 7, 2022
Dancing nymphs, c. 1923/25
Oil on canvas
86 x 134cm
Private collection
Ferdinand Leeke (1859–1923) was a German painter best known for his illustrations of Richard Wagner’s operas and other mythological scenes. Born on April 7, 1859 in Burg bei Magdeburg, Germany.
Around 1889 Siegfried Wagner, son of the composer Richard Wagner, commissioned Leeke to paint a series based on ten different operas written by his father (See below). These paintings were then reproduced as posters via six-color photogravure, which was a new and revolutionary process at the time…