Léo Schnug was a French, in particular, Alsatian painter of German ancestry. He also worked as an illustrator.
Background
Ethnicity:
Léo Schnug’s father was of a German origin, and his mother came from the French village Lampertheim situated in the Bas-Rhin department of the north-eastern France.
Léo Schnug was born on February 17, 1878, in Strasbourg which was a part of the German Empire by the time (currently situated in France). He was a son of Maximilien Christian Heinrich Schnug, a court clerk, and Marguerite Lobstein.
When Léo was a baby, his father was placed in a hospital because of the mental illness. Marguerite, the painter’s mother was obliged to rent the rooms of their house to the actors from the municipal theatre. So, from the childhood spent in Lampertheim village, Léo was surrounded by the opera costumes which inspired many of his paintings later.
Schnug had a sister who died at the age of six.
Education
Léo Schnug began his artistic education at the School of Decorative Arts in Strasbourg (currently Haute École des Arts du Rhin) where he was taught by Anton Seder.
A young man, Schnug pursued his training at the Academy of Fine Arts in Munich which he entered in 1895. He had studied there for five years under the tutelage of Nikolaos Gyzis, a painter of a Greek origin. At the institution, Léo Schnug got acquainted with Henri Loux, Alfred Pellon and Emile Schneider.
Career
Léo Schnug started his artistic career at the age of seventeen as the illustrator of the Viennese publishing company called Gerlach & Schenk.
Later, Schnug joined the Saint-Léonard Circle in Strasbourg where he collaborated with various Alsatian artists, such as Léon Hornecker, Alfred Marzolff, Georges Ritleng, Joseph Sattler, Lothar von Seebach and others. A member of the group, Léo Schnug regularly attended Kunschthafe meetings where he explored Art Nouveau and became fascinated by the Medieval themes.
The first artworks of the painter were demonstrated in Strasbourg at the Alsatian Art Galleries.
The most fruitful period of Schnug’s artistic activity had lasted till the beginning of the First World War. The painter produced a great number of illustrations for ex libris, posters, menus and greeting cards. His main characters were the historical personages.
Despite his painting activity, Schnug worked as a set decorator and created many costumes and other appurtenances for different events. The projects included Erckmann-Chatrian Celebrations (1908) organized by the Alsatian museum in Strasbourg in honour of the French Revolution and the restoration of the Château du Haut-Kœnigsbourg (1912-14).
At the outbreak of the War, Léo Schnug joined the German Army as a sergeant. The abuse of alcohol provoked break down of the artist’s mental health. The situation worsened after the death of his parents, and Schnug entered the psychiatric hospital Stephansfeld where he lived till the end of his days.