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22.00 USD
This is a beautiful card produced by Raphael Kirchner, and published by M.M.Vienne.
If you feverishly research your cards, as we do, you may at some point be led astray by the text on the back of this one, "M.M. Vienne." This is not a person's name, but rather, M.M. are the publisher's initials, and Vienne, the city of origin, Vienna, as in Austria, where the card was published. M. M. stands either for Max Munk, or Marcus Munk, as even this depends upon your source of information. Ostensibly reliable sources come out on both sides of this one. But, M.M. Vienne, is definitely NOT the artist's name, which is a very common error you may find repeated elsewhere.
Of course we hate to admit it, but we have definitely wandered down the wrong path more than once when researching our cards, following well meaning researchers, dealers, bloggers, who themselves had been misled before us, so that only later do we discover that so and so was not an opera singer, but a stage actress of a different generation, or that thus and such was not the name of a photographer, but instead, the name of a district in a European city.
This interwebs is tricksy,
Slick and sluice, its quags and mires.
Wander wary, lest ye slipsy,
Down the deepsome danks and dires!
Apologies to Lewis Carroll :)
Munk published almost countless illustrated images of beautiful women in Art Nouveau style by a large number of artists. Probably the most commonly seen Munk ladies were done by the great Raimund Wichera, who today has faded somewhat into obscurity. Raphael Kirchner, on the other hand, has grown if not more widely known than he was at the height of his popularity in the early 1900s, certainly more collectible, and valued in terms of the artistic quality of his work. Cards out of this particular series are, like many of Wichera's "M.M. Vienne" cards, unsigned, but it has been long established that this series was produced by Raphael Kirchner.
There are a couple of tiny chips out of this card, at one corner, and along the edge, and the card is priced accordingly. The image of the lovely young woman is NOT embossed, though it may appear to be in the scan, and the crimping along the edges was decoratively intentional, and appears on almost all cards out of this series we've found.
Please examine our high res scans carefully for detail.
For more on Kirchner, please read the wonderful summary below, that we found on the website ArtHistory.net. We usually write our own listings, but this is great. Informative, concise, and we certainly couldn't have done it better!
"Introduction to the Artist Raphael Kirchner
By ArtHistory.net
Vienna-born artist Raphael Kirchner was born in 1876. Influenced by Aubrey Beardsley’s Art Nouveau style, Kirchner has often been compared to the artist Alphonse Mucha who also primarily painted women. But while Mucha went on to focus on poster art, Kirchner designed postcards during what has been dubbed “The Golden Age of Postcards.” Women in Kirchner designs were usually garbed scantily (though elegantly) and shown sitting at their vanities or lounging on beds. Some are simply smelling flowers or playing an instrument like a harp.
Not much is known about Kirchner’s private life. While in Vienna, he painted portraits for wealthy Viennese clients. He later moved to Paris (around 1900) where he illustrated for the magazine La Vie Parisienne. This popular French magazine famously featured other well-known artists like Georges Barbier and Georges Leonnec. The magazine became infamous for its risqué, yet tasteful illustrations of women. Kirchner’s illustrations for the magazine led to his career designing more than one thousand illustrated postcards featuring mostly women.
Most of Kirchner’s women are based on his wife Nina who modeled for him. Many of Kirchner’s designs demonstrated a strong Japanese influence as best evidenced by his Geisha series of illustrations. While in Paris Kirchner continued to do portrait work and illustrate for other magazines. Kirchner’s illustrations of Paris life became very popular—especially as he portrayed its sensual side in bars and fashionable bedrooms. His depictions of women, while erotic, are also exquisitely lovely. Like Mucha, Kirchner portrayed women as essentially beautiful—sometimes ethereally so.
Kirchner moved to the United States around 1914. His postcards became particularly sought after during WWI by soldiers on both sides of the war. Art historians credit Kirchner’s postcards as revealing the first pin up girls. Soldiers collected Kirchner’s postcard beauties and hung them in the trenches. Kirchner’s war postcards were less draughtsmanlike than his earlier designs and also more directly sensual. These erotic postcards were soldiers’ favorites and their popularity during these war years influenced the work of later pin up artists. While in New York, Kirchner also worked as a theatre costume designer as well as a portrait artist.
Kirchner died in 1917. His wife and main model Nina attempted suicide after his death. Subsequent accounts of her life suggest she went mad with excessive drug use. Kirchner portrayed his wife so often that it would be impossible to ignore their artist and muse-like relationship. His portrayals of Nina suggest enchantment, beauty, and certainly love. Kirchner’s postcards are among the most highly collectable. His rarest designs are extremely valuable and continue to fetch large sums at auction."
Here is a link to ArtHistory.net:
http://www.arthistory.net/artists/raphaelkirchner/raphaelkirchner1.html
The item you are considering for purchase is, unless otherwise noted, a vintage postcard of approximately 5 and 1/2, by 3 and 1/2 inches. Postage is for fully-insured, first class shipping in a secure photo mailer (to avoid any damage to your purchase in the mails), and we happily combine shipping on all paper goods. If you purchase two cards, we will not charge for postage on the second card, and when you purchase three or more cards from us at the same time, your shipping will be entirely free, except for international orders which, because of increases in international shipping rates will still be charged one card's shipping fees on orders of three or more. We do not charge for insurance or shipping materials, and as of the date of this listing are still charging below our overall cost on shipping.
And please come visit our blog at:
redpoulaine.blogspot.com
where we post biographical and historical tidbits, images of cards and photographs for sale, some already sold but remembered fondly, related images of historical interest and sometimes even images of items that have not yet arrived in the shop, but that are expected to arrive soon, as well as coupon codes, links to other related sites, and more!
