Friedrich Heyser
1857–1921
Friedrich Heyser was not previously regarded as one of the best-known artists of German Art Nouveau and Symbolism. This changed in October 2025, when Taylor Swift recreated a scene from his Ophelia painting as a "living picture" in her music video "The Fate of Ophelia".
From 1880 to 1883, Heyser studied at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Dresden, Germany, under Leon Pohle and Paul Mohn. This was followed by further studies from 1883 to 1885 under Ferdinand Keller in Karlsruhe. In 1890, Heyser undertook a short period of study at the Académie Julian in Paris. He was also a member of the professional association Allgemeine Deutsche Kunstgenossenschaft as well as the artist group Grün-Weiß, which was founded in Dresden around 1910.
