Raphael Kirchner (American, 1867 to 1917)
Raphael Kirchner was born in Vienna, Austria and along with Alphonse Mucha, was one of the most renowned Art Nouveau postcard artists of the Vienna Secessionist movement. The visionary artist later moved to France and worked as the cover artist for the wildly popular La Vie Parisienne. His radically risque portraits of sexually emancipated women were dubbed “Kirchner Girls.”
Kirchner moved to New York City in 1915, and was introduced to Florence Ziegfeld by Viennese architect Josef Urban, the man responsible for the ornate Follies sets and design. Ziegfeld, always an innovator, hired Kirchner as a staff artist.
Information courtesy of Heritage Auction Galleries, October 2008.