Eugen Klimsch, father of the sculptor Fritz Klimsch, came from a family of artists in Frankfurt. He received his initial training from his father at a young age, and later attended the Höhere Gewerbeschule and the Städel'sche Kunstinstitut in Frankfurt, before moving to Munich in 1860 to train further.

Klimsch returned to his home town after five years and began teaching there at the Kunstgewerbeschule. He later took over management of the Städel'schen Malschule, but died unexpectedly just a year later. E. Ph. J. Hallenstein published an extensive biography of the artist in "Die Kunst unserer Zeit. Eine Chronik des modernen Kunstlebens" (vol. VII, p. 45-60), which he closed as follows: "The artist h...