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Franz von Stuck’s private life is not an easy one to unravel.  One of Stuck’s models was called Lydia Feez, a dark haired beauty who appears in numerous of his paintings.  She is the model for the Sphinx.

But a lot more went on than this.  In the play about Stuck [called Sphinx] Mary, the Artist’s daughter is the daughter of a lady called Anna.

And indeed in real life Mary Stuck (1896-1961) was Franz von Stuck’s only child, born from an affair with a woman named Anna Maria Brandmaier. The following year the artist married the American Mary Lindpainter, and in 1904 the couple formally adopted the young girl, who had been christened Maria Franziska but was simply known as Mary.

“On April 9, daughter Mary Franziska Brandmaier illegitimately born. Mother is the master baker's daughter Anna Maria Brandmaier.  1897 March 15 marriage to Mary Lindpaintner (1865-1929), born Hoose, widow of Munich physician Julius Lindpaintner (d. 1892).”[Source Villa Stuck Museum].

In the play, Stuck tells Anna that he thinks it would be better if Mary came to live with him and his wife Mary, as the child would have a more secure future.

Again, in the play, Stuck’s wife Mary has a son and daughter by her previous marriage – Otto and Olga.  In the play, the daughter complains that she and her brother were sent to live with a governess.  The play explores this complex family relationship.  Both Mistress and wife know one another, both pose nude for von Stuck.  There is also a hint that Stuck had to do battle with another man over one unspecified woman.  One of Stuck’s paintings does indeed show a fight between two men battling over a woman - the struggle for woman. (1905; Hermitage, St. Petersburg).

Even more complex, in real life, Stuck’s father was called Franz Stuck (1814-1882) and his wife was called Anna  (1833-1893).

 1910 Mary with Biedermeier hat