Elend (Opus XIII, Blatt 7)

1896

Brahms dedicates the “Four Serious Songs” to Klinger

Johannes Brahms dedicates his “Four Serious Songs” (Opus 121) to Klinger a year before the composer’s death; besides Brahms, Klinger, an accomplished pianist, counts the composer Max Reger among his friends.

1897

“Christ on Olympus” and the debate on modernism

The painting “Christ on Olympus” is shown together with August von Brandis’s “Wedding at Cana” in the Hall of Honour of the Great Munich Art Exhibition, provoking a public controversy about the culture of German modernism.

1897

Professor in Leipzig and a member of the Vienna Secession

He becomes a professor at the Academy of Graphic Arts in Leipzig and a corresponding member of the newly founded Vienna Secession.

1898

Meets Elsa Asenijeff

He meets the writer and poet Elsa Asenijeff, who becomes his model, muse and girlfriend for fifteen years; they have a daughter in 1900 but never marry.

1900

Meets Auguste Rodin

In Paris, in a studio, he meets Auguste Rodin.

7 September 1900

Birth of his daughter Désirée

In Paris a daughter, Désirée (1900–1973), is born to Klinger and Elsa Asenijeff; she is raised by a foster mother.