Klíč [Klitsch; Klietsch], Karel [Karl]

Extract

[Karl]

(b Hostinné [Ger. Arnau], Bohemia [now Czech Republic], May 30, 1841; d Vienna, Nov 16, 1926).

Czech printmaker, draughtsman, photographer and inventor. He studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Prague (1856–60) but, because of his anti-German and anti-Austrian views, he had to interrupt his studies several times to escape prosecution by the authorities. In 1863 he opened his own lithography workshop in Prague and one year later founded a prosperous photographic studio in Brno together with his father. Klíč was a skilled draughtsman and he gained considerable popularity as a caricaturist, first in Budapest (1868) and later in Vienna (1869). He contributed to the magazines Borszem Jankó (Budapest), Der Floh (Vienna) and Puck (London), and he founded the magazines Veselé Listy (Brno) and Humoristische Blätter (Vienna). His ironic, biting full-page drawings place him among the great representatives of European caricature of his time. However, his worldwide reputation had its source in his contribution to printing technology.

From 1876...