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 ...
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 ...
. 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 F ...
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
clochard
A tramp is a long-term homeless person who travels from place to place as a vagrant, traditionally walking all year round.
Etymology
Tramp is derived from a Middle English verb meaning to "walk with heavy footsteps" (''cf.'' modern English ''t ...
s.
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 List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...
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 Resistance ...
(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''
Further reading
*
*
References
External links
Richard Geigerprofile 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 ...
{{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