Franz Heckendorf was born in Berlin in 1888, where he studied at the "Kunstgewerbemuseum" and the "Akademie der Bildenden Künste" and had his first exhibition at the "Berliner Sezession" in 1909. His early works, often interlinked with motifs taken from Balkan landscapes and Mesopotamia, which he saw as a pilot during the war. His works followed the tradition of Impressionism. It was not until later that Franz Heckendorf developed his own style, with which he moved closer to Expressionism.
Franz Heckendorf was not interested in reproducing nature, but in an enhanced reflection of the impression. Alongside numerous oil paintings, Franz Heckendorf also produced pastels and watercolors, and worked as a graphic artist. As his art was considered degenerate during the Nazi rule, the situation became more difficult for the artist. Only after the war was Franz Heckendorf able to work as a professor at the Vienna academy and later in Salzburg.
Franz Heckendorf lived in Munich until his death on August 17, 1965.