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L - ARTISTS

Julian Lacaze   1886-1971
French

Lacaze was a painter and etcher who became a designer of early travel posters. Many of his decorative modernist landscapes were used to promote the French National Railway. His poster designs were also issued as postcards.

Alexandre Ivanovich Laktionov   1910-1972
Russian, B. Rostov

Laktionov’s father, a blacksmith, encouraged his son’s interest in art and between 1926 and 1929 he took up studies at the Art School in Rostov. Afterwards he attended the Institute for Painting, Sculpture and Architecture in Leningrad between 1932 and 1938. He would remain in Leningrad until 1940 producing anti-fascist posters before moving on to Moscow. During World War Two he produced optimistic propaganda images followed by portraits and landscapes. A number of these scenes capture Palanga in Lithuania. Laktionov was strongly influenced by old master paintings from the very beginning of his career and he never left this course. Though criticized by his more modernist contemporaries, his social realist style was very popular among the public. Many of his images were placed on postcards.

Sir Edwin Landseer   1802-1873
British, b. London

Landseer who came from a family of engravers began his studies in painting and sculpture at the Royal Academy in London in 1816. Afterwards he would become the most most noted animalier in Great Britain, even receiving royal commissions. His popularity extended to all classes because he presented his subjects as ennobled beasts, imbued with notions of Victorian morality. From 1839 onwards he grew increasingly depressed and was declared insane in 1872. While his life was not contemporaneous with postcards, his work was so well known and in such demand that a large amount of postcards were made to reproduce it.

Johanna Frederika Langeler   1900-1948
Dutch, b. Amsterdam, Netherlands

Johanna, better known as Freddie was a self taught artist. While she created paintings she received much more recognition for the illustrations she made for over 100 children’s books and magazines. Many of these images would be printed as postcards. In 1926 she married the cartoonist Eelco Martinus ten Harsen van der Beek, and they sometimes collaborated on producing comics. Langeler also provided illustrations for magazines and newspapers, and drew a number of comic strips on her own starting with Bobby den Speurder.

Carl Larson   1853-1919
Swedish, b. Stockholm

After Larson’s studies at the Stockholm Royal Academy he briefly worked as a cartoonist and illustrator before heading to France in 1876. Finding little work in Paris and unhappy with the artistic trends he found there, he moved to Barbizon and then the Scandinavian art colony at Grez-sur-Loing. It was there that he met the artist Karin Bergoo who would become his wife. By 1882 his interest in watercolor began to replace his oil painting and he developed a highly graphic style. After returning to Sweden they settled in Gothenburg in 1886 and he began his career as a painter, muralist, etcher, illustrator, and educator. In 1888 he moved to Sundborn where his house, Lilla Hyttnas, and his family became the subject of most of his work. With Karin designing a great deal of the home including the furniture, it became a model for Scandinavian design through exposure in Carl’s paintings. His illustrations found there way into books and magazines, and he published a number of printed portfolios. Some of these images were placed on charitable postcards between 1908 and 1912. Many more images of his home and views of rural Sweden were reproduced on postcards in later years.

Lewis H. Larson   1909-1997
American, b. near Moab, Utah

Larson, better known as Dude Larson was a self taught painter. In 1938 he opened a trading post in Kanab to provide services to oil speculators. While he intended to make a living this way, he realized most of his profits from postcard sales that reproduced his paintings. Postcards for him was a business and he made sure all his work was composed toward pleasing tourists rather than capturing real Western life. Most of his cards were self published but he took great care to protect his copyright when dealing with other publishers. His wife Dot was also an artist, and she helped him paint some of his images. Dude would eventually remarry and move to Colorado to become a rancher.

Johann Larwin   1873-1938
Austrian, b. Vienna

Hans Larwin studied at the Vienna Academy and became a painter of landscapes and portraits. Though he was interested in capturing daily life out on the streets, and painted in a somewhat academic style, many of his paintings were often fused with symbolic content. This was especial true of the military subjects he represented from the First World War. In 1902 Lawson became a member of the Wiener Kuenstlerhaus. He Traveled to Chicago in 1922 to set up an exhibition, and stayed for two years making contacts to sell his work. He promoted these efforts through the publication of postcards that reproduced his painting. After returning to Austria he served as a professor at the Vienna Academy between 1930 and 1938.

Leopold Lelee   1872-1947
French, b. Chemaze

Lelee studied illustration and costume design at the National School for Decorative Arts, going on to study at the National Academy in Paris. Around 1902 he moved to Arles in southern France where he set up his studio. In addition to painting he illustrated books and over 3,000 postcards, primarily in an Art Nouveau style influenced by local costumes and Orientalism. He also known for his furniture design.

Ernest Louis Lessieux   1848-1925
French, b. La Rochele

In 1878 Lessieux began painting landscapes and maritime scenes of Spain, especially in watercolor. Many of these images were reproduced in chromolithography on calendars and later on tricolor postcards. He had a long career as a watercolorist that included scenes from the French front in World War One. While he worked in a conventional realist style, he produced over 200 postcards issued in sets between 1900 and 1902 whose graphics were highly influenced by Art Nouveau.

Ted Lewy   1912-1963
German, b. Schubin

Lewy first studied business in Germany before becoming interested in painting. To avoid persecution under the Nazi regime, he moved to Singapore in 1936. This was followed by another move to Hong Kong, and then to Shanghai where he continued to study art. In 1940 he moved to San Francisco and soon found himself working as a military artist when the United States entered World War Two. In the postwar years he traveled about the Pacific coast states painting landscapes, but most of his work centered around San Francisco. He found work painting murals for local nightclubs, and also provided illustrations for posters, calendars, and napkins. Many of his watercolors were placed on postcards after first being commissioned for a series by a Chinese gift shop. He remains one of the city’s favorite artists.

Joseph Christian Leyendecker   1874-1951
German, b. Montabaur

In 1882 Leyendecker’s family moved to the United States settling down in Chicago. After trying his hand at some illustration work he attended the Chicago Art Institute and then went on to study at the Academy Julian in Paris. On his return in 1899 he briefly opened a studio in Chicago with his brother Frank Xavier. Only a year later they and their sister Mary all moved to New York City. He would become an extremely popular and influential illustrator providing images for books, posters, advertising, and postcards. He is probably best known for the hundreds of magazine covers his work appeared on, 322 for the Saturday Evening Post alone. He also created recruitment posters for the military during both World Wars, which were later placed on postcards as ads for Chesterfield’s Bull Durham chewing tobacco. While many of his contemporaries concentrated on glamour images of women, Leyendecker’s illustrations often depict men with homo-erotic undertones. His success allowed him to move out to New Rochelle in 1914 along with his brother and sister, but his popularity steadily declined in the postwar years. He may have drawn much of his inspiration from his younger brother Frank who was also a successful illustrator. Lack of credit may be in part due to Frank’s drug addiction and overdose to morphine in 1924.

Ernst Liebermann   1869-1960
German, b. Meiningen

After graduating from the Berlin Academy, Liebermann continued his studies while traveling through Germany, Italy, and Paris. In 1897 he settled in Munich where his career as a graphic artist took off. He illustrated many children’s books including The Frog Prince and Grimms Fairy Tales. During these years he also created many romantic landscapes for postcards. Liebermann only took up painting much later but his romantic style continued, especially in his depiction of nudes. Despite his Jewish background he was personally protected by Adolph Hitler because of his admiration of Liebermann’s ability to render German ideals through classical aesthetics. His work was included in the Great German Art Exhibition of 1937. Many of these later paintings appear on postcards as art reproductions.

Stig Lindberg   1916-1982
Swedish, b. Umea

After studying painting at Konstfack, the state College of Arts and Crafts in Stockholm, Lindberg began a career as a designer. He began working for Gustavsberg in 1937, eventually becoming their art director. Though he is best known for the ceramic pieces he created there, he also designed prints, fabrics, and postcards in a fanciful modern style. In 1980 he opened a studio in Italy, but died of a heart attack only two years latter.

Wladimir Linde   1862-1930
German, b. Riga, Latvia

After studying at the Munich Academy, Linde became a portrait and landscape painter in a fairly academic style. His designs for chromolithographic postcards were executed in a much more loose and playful manner.

Maj Lindman   1876-1972
Swedish

Lindman attended the Royal Academy in Stockholm and furthered her studies in Paris afterwards. She became a author and illustrator of a number of popular children’s books. Lindman also did graphic work that included designing holiday postcards.

Entico Della Leonessa (Lionne)   1865-1921
Italian, b. Naples

Leinessa studied art in Naples before moving to Rome in 1895. While there he became an important newspaper illustrator. He also painted still lives and landscapes but he seemed particularly interested in portraying women of all types. He began working in an impressionistic style but turned to pointillism by 1900. Some of his work shows influence of the Symbolists. He illustrated a number of postcards depicting women, and also propaganda cards during the First World War.

Maria Likarz-Strauss   1893-1971
Austrian, b. Przemysl (now Poland)

Likarz was a prolific commercial designer whose patterns were used on textiles and wall paper. From 1912 to 1914 and 1920 to 1931 she worked with the Wiener Werkstätte where she produced fashion and floral postcards. Most of her designs were based on highly stylized floral patterns that grew ever more geometric. In 1928 she moved to Rome where she concentrated on ceramic design.

Friedrich Lissmann   1880-1915
German, b. Hamburg

Lissmann was a painter and woodblock artist, who after setting up a studio in Hamburg in 1906 became well known for his depictions of wildlife. Many of his subtly colored block prints, including the images of birds he made after visiting Iceland, were turned into postcards. Lissmann died in battle at Ypres during World War One.

Wilhelm List   1864-1918
Austrian, b. Vienna

List attended the Vienna Academy before finishing his studies in Paris. He became a painter and woodcut artist who worked in a strong Symbolist style often infused with religious meaning. This work was exhibited at the Vienna Secession in 1897. Between 1898 and 1903 he produced illustrations for the magazine Ver Sacrum. He designed postcards as well. He later served as a professor at the Vienna Academy.

Sergei Paulovich Lodygin   1893-1961
Russian

Lodygin was a painter and graphic artist who produced numerous illustrations for magazines. He is best know for his graphic fantasies placed on postcards between 1915 and 1916 that were drawn in a highly decorative style; many of which are charged with erotic overtones. In 1917 he began creating political posters, and spent much of his latter years involved with theatrical design.

Berthold Loffler   1874-1960
Bohemian, b. Nieder-Rosenthal, Austria

Loffler’s father had been a fabric designer, and after finishing his studies at the Vienna school for Arts and Crafts in 1900, he began his own career in design. In 1906 he partnered with Michael Powolny to create the design studio Wiener Keramic, and a year later he had joined the Wiener Werkstätte. Loffler had his hand in designing calendars, posters, ceramics, jewelry, costumes, book plates, and postcards. He also did a fair amount of work designing posters and the furnishings for the cabaret Fledermaus. He worked in a bold graphic style, highly influenced by Jungenstil and folk art that often incorporated figures into the design.

Luigi Aloys-Francois-Joseph Loir   1845-1916
French, b. Gorritz, Austria

After studying at the Parma Academy, Loir moved to Paris in 1863 to begin a varied career in the arts. In addition to his paintings and watercolors he created theater designs, Illustrations, and a wide variety of graphic art that included posters and postcards. He continually exhibited at the Paris Salon from as early as 1865. only interrupted by his military service during the Franco Prussian War in 1870. His landscapes capture a changing Paris and environs in a style that was also in flux ranging from academic to impressionistic. He made much use of atmospheric effects created by the weather and the novelty of artificial lighting. This is evident in the many postcards he produced of Paris at dusk bath in a warm amber light. He signed all his work Loir Luigi.

Evelen Louise Longley   1920-1959
American, b. Somerville, Massachusetts

After winning a scholarship to the Child Walker School of Design in 1936, Longley opened a gallery in Rockport on Cape Ann to help make ends meet. She won another scholarship to study in Florence, Italy but never attended due to the looming war. Instead she studied architecture at MIT and Harvard but ended up working as an industrial illustrator during World War Two. Afterwards she dedicated herself to painting and graphic work. While she produced marine scenes of the Cape Ann coast, she is best known for her renditions of interiors such as those made for the period rooms of the Beauport Museum. She also worked in advertising, and produced illustrations for the Boston Globe, Boston Herald Traveler, Boston Post, Field and Stream, and Holiday Magazine. Though many of her drawings used on postcards were rendered in black line or simply tinted, they are often as expressive as her paintings. In 1950 Longley began to spend her winters in St. Petersburg, Florida where she became very active as an artist.

Friederike Low-Lazar   1891-1975
Austrian, b. Vienna

Friederike, or Fritzi as she was better known studied at the Vienna School for Arts and Crafts. She became a designer of fabrics, jewelry, toys, glass, ceramics, and graphics that included postcards. Many of these cards were made for the Wiener Werkstätte. Between 1917 and 1925 she worked for the publisher Anton Schroll as a book illustrator. In 1938 she moved to Barazil but returned to Vienna in 1955.

Alois Leupold Lowenthal   1888-Unknown
Austrian, b. Vienna

After leaving the Vienna School of Applied Arts, Lowenthal worked in enamel and graphic design. In 1909 he produced postcards for the Wiener Werkstätte. He died sometime during World War Two.

Henri Lucien-Robert   1868-1929
French, b. Paris

Lucien-Robert was a painter and lithographer best known for his Orientalist themes. Around 1900 he designed a number of postcard sets that were drawn in a very graphic Art Nouveau style.

Ernest Lynen   1852-1938
Belgian, b. Saint-Josse-ten-Noode

This painter, etcher, and illustrator studied at the Brussels Royal Academy. He was part of L’Essor, an alternitive to the Salon and he was a founding member of Pour L’Art. He also founded the Brussels’ cabaret Diable au Corps. His illustrations were widely used in magazines and he produced two large sets of work depicting everyday life in Brussels; one in intaglio and one in lithography. Many of these images drawn in a flat graphic style appear on postcards.

Ilse Wende-Lungershausen   1900-1991
German, b. Berlin

After her studies at the Berlin Academy, Ilse became an illustrator for the Wertheim Department Store. By the 1930’s she was producing children’s book illustrations, and in the 1940’s she was designing toys such as printed toy blocks. She retired from illustrating work sometime in the 1960’s. All her work was signed Lungers-Hausen.