Against the will of his parents Emanuel Fohn broke off his law studies to devote himself entirely to painting. As a student of Hans von Hayek, he completed his first apprenticeship in Dachau. Later he was in Munich students of Angelo Jank and Hugo von Habermann, as well as in Berlin by Lovis Corinth. In Hamburg, he held a chair at the College of Fine Arts. After his military service from 1915 to 1918 followed by stays in Spain and Italy. In 1933, the artist married his student Sofie Schneider, with whom he started to campaigned in 1939 for "Degenerate Art". The couple managed to save a variety of artworks. In 1964 they bequeathed their unique collection of the Bavarian State Painting Collection.