Franz Ringel was an Austrian painter and graphic artist, best known for painting the human figure while grappling with his own personal interpretations of body and mind, very much influenced by classical Greek art and literature. His talent was encouraged by his Styrian–French foster parents, who enrolled him at the School of Arts and Crafts in Graz. After leaving school, Ringel studied at the University of Applied Arts in Vienna, and then under Hans Knesl and Albert Paris Gütersloh at the Academy of Fine Arts.

In 1968 Ringel founded the Wirklichkeiten (Realities) group along with Peter Pongratz, Kurt Kocherscheidt, Martha Jungwirth, Wolfgang Herzig, and Robert Zeppel-Sperl. These artists were united by a passionate rejection of the Viennese school of fantastic realism, which was dominant at the time; in contrast with the escapism of that school, the work of the Wirklichkeiten was political, socially critical and satirical.

From 1980 Ringel altered his signature to MJM Ringel, the initials standing for the three most important women in his life – his foster mother Margarete, his mother Juliana and his wife Maria.

We are very grateful to our Russian friend Yuri for suggesting the inclusion of this artist, and for supplying most of the images.