Karel Václav Klíč (sometimes written Karl Klietsch, 30 May 1841, Hostinné – 16 November 1926,

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

) was a Czech painter, photographer, early comics artist, caricaturist, lithographer and illustrator. He was one of the inventors of photogravure (''heliogravura'' in Czech). Klíč had such artistic talent that he was admitted into the Art Academy in

Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...

at the age of 14. For ridiculing school officials he was soon expelled, but eventually finished the school in 1862. Klíč worked as a photographer, caricaturist and illustrator in

Brno Brno ( , ; ) is a Statutory city (Czech Republic), city in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic. Located at the confluence of the Svitava (river), Svitava and Svratka (river), Svratka rivers, Brno has about 403,000 inhabitants, making ...

Budapest Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...

and Vienna, all the time trying to improve the technology of picture reproduction. During a long night in 1877, while working with zinc relief etching, he discovered, by chance, a process leading to photogravure. He further improved the process in 1890, when working in

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

Sources

External links

Lambiek Comiclopedia article.

Biography (in Czech)

{{DEFAULTSORT:Klic, Karel 1841 births 1926 deaths People from Hostinné 19th-century Czech illustrators 19th-century Czech lithographers Czech caricaturists Czech comics artists Czech inventors 19th-century Czech painters Czech male painters 20th-century Czech painters 19th-century Czech male artists 20th-century Czech male artists Illustrators from Austria-Hungary Painters from Austria-Hungary Photographers from Austria-Hungary