Richard Geiger (29 June 1870 – 9 February 1945) was an Austrian painter. Initially he worked for a Hungarian weekly magazine. By the 1920s, he worked illustrating books, bookplates and posters. His paintings included portraits, nudes, genre paintings, and mythological scenes, but he was known for his illustrations, especially his carnival motifs.

Background

Geiger was born in Vienna, into a

Hungarian Jewish The history of the Jews in Hungary dates back to at least the Kingdom of Hungary, with some records even predating the Hungarian conquest of the Carpathian Basin in 895 CE by over 600 years. Written sources prove that Jewish communities lived i ...

family. His parents were Antal Geiger and Jozefin Wahringer. He first attended a drawing school and then studied at 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 ...

, where he studied under

Christian Griepenkerl Christian Griepenkerl (17 March 1839 – 22 March 1916) was a German painter and professor at the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna. Biography Griepenkerl was born to one of Oldenburg's leading families. As a young man, he heeded the advice of his f ...

and

August Eisenmenger August Eisenmenger (11 February 1830 – 7 December 1907) was an Austrian painter of portraits and historical subjects. Life He was born in Vienna. At the age of fifteen, Eisenmenger was already a student at the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna and ...

. He studied

sculpture Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...

with

Fritz Klimsch Fritz Klimsch (10 February 1870 – 30 March 1960) was a German sculptor, and the younger brother of the painter Paul Klimsch. He was one of the famous artists in the era of Weimar republic. Early life Klimsch was born on 10 February 1870 in ...

at the Academy of Arts in Berlin. There he took part in the exhibitions of the Academy with his portrait busts and sculptures. In Paris he studied at the Julian Academy and worked in the studio of

François Flameng François Flameng (1856–1923) was a notable French painter during the last quarter of the 19th century and the first quarter of the 20th. He was the son of Léopold Flameng, a celebrated printmaker, and received a first-rate education in his c ...

. While at the Julian Academy, he focused on painting scenes from the life of the clochards. From 1893 Geiger worked as a genre painter in Budapest. He worked for the ''Izidor Kner'' publishing house in

Gyomaendrőd Gyomaendrőd is a town in Békés county, Hungary. The city covers an area of 303.98 km2 with 15,095 residents. The approach to the town is excellent both by road and railway, as the city is crossed by highway number 46 and the Budapest-Szolnok-B� ...

, among others. From 1906 Geiger illustrated twenty Hungarian editions of the works of

Karl May Karl Friedrich May ( , ; 25 February 1842 – 30 March 1912) was a German author. He is best known for his 19th century novels of fictitious travels and adventures, set in the American Old West with Winnetou and Old Shatterhand as main pro ...

for the Budapest ''Athenaeum'' publishing house. He produced a total of 104 autotypes. During

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 ...

he worked as an illustrator for the Hungarian weekly ''Tolnai Világlapja''. In the 1920s he illustrated a large number of books and produced numerous portraits of

Pierrette A Pierrette is, in the theatre, a female Pierrot Pierrette may also refer to: * Marie-Anne Pierrette Paulze (1758–1836), French chemist, and wife of Antoine Lavoisier *Olga Bancic (1912–1944), Jewish–Romanian activist in the French Resistanc ...

(the female version of a Pierrot). He won several prizes in graphic competitions and took part in exhibitions in France, Germany and Hungary.

Selected works

* ' with * ''Sich räkelnde, rauchende Dame mit Akkordeonspieler im Wirtshaus'' * ''Sängerin mit Bandoneonspieler in einem Wirtshaus'' * ''Colombine mit Pierrot und Harlekin'' * ''Varietémusikerin mit Gitarre'' * ''Zigeunerin mit Tamburin'' * ''Haremsdame mit Papagei'' * ''Südländische Schönheit'' * ''Harlekinek'' * ''Sérénade''

Gallery

File:Richard Geiger - Junge Schönheit.jpg, ''Junge Schönheit'' File:Pierrette met Luit.jpg, ''Pierrette met Luit'' File:Röpke lapok (1911-11-30).jpg, ''Röpke lapok'' cover File:Richard Geiger Madonna.jpg, ''Madonna'' File:Pierrot and Pierrette by Richard Geiger.jpg, ''Pierrot and Pierrette''

References

External links

Richard Geiger
profile at

Artnet Artnet.com is an art market website. It is operated by Artnet Worldwide Corporation, which has headquarters in New York City, in the United States, and is owned by Artnet AG, a German publicly traded company based in Berlin that is listed on t ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Geiger, Richard Austrian painters Austrian male artists 1945 deaths 1870 births Austrian poster artists Austrian genre painters Hungarian painters Artists from Vienna Austrian people of Jewish descent

Background

Selected works

Gallery

Further reading

References

External links