We want to bring you in the mood for the next week’s poll for The Lion’s Song: Episode 2 - Anthology. As a little reminder what that episode was all about, we thought we’d share a short profile of the protagonist Franz with you. Name: Franz Markert Birth Date: December 10th, 1896 Age:18 Appearance: tall, lean, nervous Nicknames: Franzi (as called by his parents)
Franz Markert is an 18 year old painter. He was born in Bad Vöslau, Lower Austria, where he started drawing in his grand-father’s garden at a young age. Being discovered and labeled as child prodigy, he excelled in his art education, allowing him to skip some primary school classes. However, he ultimately failed to pass his enrollment test into the Viennese School of Arts and Crafts. With his parents deeply disappointed and distraught by his failure, a desperate Franz moved to Vienna to live closer to his grandfather, who continued to support him both morally and financially. Franz is obsessed with understanding the core of feelings, ideas and human beings which makes him overly observant. It makes him appear nervous in the company of others and he is often described as distracted, as he is constantly occupied with taking in the details of those around him. Not long after his move to Vienna, one portrait in particular, “Woman with violin”, lead to Franz being discovered by the cultural elite close to the Wiener Moderne. With an advocate in none other than Gustav Klimt, and an already-established connection through his grandfather he was welcomed to the Wiener Salon, a meeting point for art critics, the high society and well-known colleagues. With all the ups and downs on the road to this moment, only one question remains: will Franz blend in and find a suitable model to challenge his artistic skills? Will this next step finally allow him to see deeper? Stay tuned for more next week!