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Raphael Kirchner (1876 – 2 August 1917) was an Austrian artist, principally a
Raphael Kirchner produced over a thousand published paintings and drawings in his lifetime, mostly in the form of picture postcards. His orientalist "
File:Portfolio with plates from "De la Brune à la Blonde" and other designs by Raphael Kirchner MET DP861939.jpg, "De la Brune à la Blonde," poster, 1914
File:Raphael Kirchner - La Mer Fleurie.jpg, ''La Mer Fleurie,'' postcard design, c. 1915
File:Raphael Kirchner unbekannter Titel.jpg, ''Le Masque impassible,'' date unknown
File:Kirchner - favorite.jpg, ''Favorite,'' date unknown
File:Kirchner - marionettes-2.jpg, ''Marionettes,'' date unknown
File:Kirchner - the-embrace.jpg, ''The Embrace''
File:Kirchner - ivory-sculpture.jpg, Ivory-sculpture, no title, date unknown
portrait painter
Portrait Painting is a genre in painting, where the intent is to represent a specific human subject. The term 'portrait painting' can also describe the actual painted portrait. Portraitists may create their work by commission, for public and pr ...
and illustrator
An illustrator is an artist who specializes in enhancing writing or elucidating concepts by providing a visual representation that corresponds to the content of the associated text or idea. The illustration may be intended to clarify complicat ...
best known for Art Nouveau
Art Nouveau (; ) is an international style of art, architecture, and applied art, especially the decorative arts. The style is known by different names in different languages: in German, in Italian, in Catalan, and also known as the Modern ...
and early pin-up
A pin-up model (known as a pin-up girl for a female and less commonly male pin-up for a male) is a model whose mass-produced pictures see widespread appeal as part of popular culture. Pin-up models were variously glamour models, fashion models ...
work, especially in picture postcard
A postcard or post card is a piece of thick paper or thin cardboard, typically rectangular, intended for writing and mailing without an envelope. Non-rectangular shapes may also be used but are rare. There are novelty exceptions, such as wood ...
format. His work served as an early inspiration to Peruvian painter Alberto Vargas
Joaquin Alberto Vargas y Chávez (9 February 1896 – 30 December 1982) was a Peruvian-American painter of pin-up girls. He is often considered one of the most famous of the pin-up artists. Numerous Vargas paintings have sold and continue to se ...
, who had a career in the United States for the film and men's magazine industry.
Early life
Kirchner was born in 1876 inVienna, Austria
en, Viennese
, iso_code = AT-9
, registration_plate = W
, postal_code_type = Postal code
, postal_code =
, timezone = CET
, utc_offset = +1
, timezone_DST ...
, and attended the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna
The Academy of Fine Arts Vienna (german: link=no, Akademie der bildenden Künste Wien) is a public art school in Vienna, Austria.
History
The Academy of Fine Arts Vienna was founded in 1692 as a private academy modelled on the Accademia di Sa ...
. He moved to Paris
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
in the year 1900, making illustrations for such magazines as '' La Vie Parisienne''.
In 1914, at the outbreak of World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
, Kirchner moved to the United States. He lived in New York City until his death in 1917.
Work
Raphael Kirchner produced over a thousand published paintings and drawings in his lifetime, mostly in the form of picture postcards. His orientalist "Geisha
{{Culture of Japan, Traditions, Geisha
{{nihongo, Geisha, 芸者 ({{IPAc-en, ˈ, ɡ, eɪ, ʃ, ə; {{IPA-ja, ɡeːɕa, lang), also known as {{nihongo, , 芸子, geiko (in Kyoto and Kanazawa) or {{nihongo, , 芸妓, geigi, are a class of female ...
" series was among his most popular, with over 40,000 cards sold. The series is a notable example of the cross-influence between Art Nouveau
Art Nouveau (; ) is an international style of art, architecture, and applied art, especially the decorative arts. The style is known by different names in different languages: in German, in Italian, in Catalan, and also known as the Modern ...
in the West and Japanese art of the Meiji and Taishō periods. Kirchner's often mildly erotic paintings of feminine beauty, in convenient postcard and magazine page form, were among the early pin-up
A pin-up model (known as a pin-up girl for a female and less commonly male pin-up for a male) is a model whose mass-produced pictures see widespread appeal as part of popular culture. Pin-up models were variously glamour models, fashion models ...
s favored by European and American soldiers in World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
.
Peruvian painter Alberto Vargas
Joaquin Alberto Vargas y Chávez (9 February 1896 – 30 December 1982) was a Peruvian-American painter of pin-up girls. He is often considered one of the most famous of the pin-up artists. Numerous Vargas paintings have sold and continue to se ...
cited Kirchner as an influence, and was noted for his own paintings of beautiful women in a related style. He painted for movie posters and later illustrations in men's magazines.
Kirchner's lasting influence on the pin-up genre was still recognized in the World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
pin-up heyday period. Kirchner also produced a small number of sculptures, some of which were photographed for postcards as well. In New York, he also produced costume designs for musical theatre
Musical theatre is a form of theatrical performance that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance. The story and emotional content of a musical – humor, pathos, love, anger – are communicated through words, music, movemen ...
productions.
See also
*List of Orientalist artists
This is an incomplete list of artists who have produced works on Orientalist subjects, drawn from the Islamic world or other parts of Asia. Many artists listed on this page worked in many genres, and Orientalist subjects may not have formed a m ...
*Orientalism
In art history, literature and cultural studies, Orientalism is the imitation or depiction of aspects in the Eastern world. These depictions are usually done by writers, designers, and artists from the Western world. In particular, Orientalist p ...
References
Links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kirchner, Raphael 1875 births 1917 deaths Postcard artists 19th-century Austrian painters 19th-century Austrian male artists 20th-century Austrian painters Academy of Fine Arts Vienna alumni Art Nouveau painters Art Nouveau illustrators Artists from Vienna Austrian male painters Austrian erotic artists Austrian illustrators Austrian emigrants to France Austro-Hungarian emigrants to the United States Orientalist painters Austro-Hungarian expatriates in France 20th-century Austrian male artists