Silver medal for painting by the Munich Academy of Fine Arts
Leon Koen (Serbian Cyrillic: Леон Коен; 1859–1934) was a Serbian painter.[1] Despite participating in major exhibitions, only a fraction of his works are known to survive.
In 1889 he exhibited at the Exposition Universelle in Paris, and six years later at the Venice Biennale.[4] In 1896 he was awarded the silver medal for painting "Joseph's Dream" by the Munich Academy of Fine Arts.[2]
Koen survived a nervous breakdown in 1902 and was placed in a mental hospital in Belgrade, where he was under constant psychiatric supervision until his death. The deterioration of his mental health forced his wife, Josephine Simon, to sell most of his paintings. Koen's close friend, David Pijade, collected his paintings for a major retrospective that took place in 1926 at King Peter's School near St. Michael's Cathedral in Belgrade.[5] He frequently painted works inspired by history of Serbia and nature.[6]
He was in correspondence and associated with Nadežda Petrović, Vasily Kandinsky and Franz Stuck.[8] Koen's work was praised by fellow painter Đorđe Krstić.[9] Only fifteen of Koen's paintings survive.[8] Most of his painting were lost or destroyed during the Second World War. Twelve surviving works are in the collection of the National Museum of Serbia, and two more are owned by The Federation of Jewish Communities of Serbia.[10]
