| Biography of Paul Kirnig (1891-1955) |
|
|
Paul Kirnig was a painter as well as a poster artist, and used much of what he learned in his training as a fine artist, to make graphically compelling posters. Many of his paintings exhibit a strong relationship between the study of light and how reflection, atmosphere, and depth of space are related and affected by it. This is easy to see in his use of color and how he uses very few tones, but different concentrations of color, to define highlights and shadows. In comparison to his graphic work, his paintings resemble artistic studies. His posters, on the other hand, have much more considered compositions, and while there is a limited amount of color, there is more focus on a specific light source and how it plays off of his objects.
Paul Kirnig was born into a region of social unrest in Silesia, Austria and moved to Vienna at the age of 17, only a few years before World War I broke out. Once in Vienna he was called into military service, and after being injured at the battle of Mont San Michelle against the Italians, his military career ended.
There is little known about Kirnig's career before he entered Kunstgewerbeschule (University of Applied Arts) in Vienna; which was the leading arts and crafts college in Europe. Kirnig, at age 27, had come home from fighting in World War I and decided to become a painter. During his time at Kunstgewerbeschule, Kirnig studied under Bertold Loeffler and Frank Cizek. Loeffler was a painter and illustrator and took part in Wiener Keramik (Vienna Workshops), which was a production community of visual artists in Vienna. Cizek was a genre painter and portrait artist with the goal of reforming arts education.
After completing his studies, Kirnig became a freelance commercial artist running his own small studio. Only two years out of school, he was contacted by Kunstgewerbeschule to come back and work under his old professor Bertold Loeffler. When Loeffler retired Kirnig took his place teaching painting and printmaking at the school.
During his career Paul Kirnig did work for the Austrian Tourist board, as well as make a collection of painting. He has exhibited around the world in countries including Austria, Italy, and Japan. |
|
|