Heinrich Lefler
Heinrich Lefler (1863-1919) was a painter, illustrator, poster artist, and set designer from Austria. He studied in Vienna and Munich. While trained as a painter his main occupation soon became a scenic design. He worked as an assistant to the head designer at the Vienna State Opera and designed for Metropolitan Opera in New York (his work was shipped to America) at the same time.
Designing costumes for operas on the program was just part of Lefler's duties. His life was fused with opera on other levels as well. He designed numerous posters and other propaganda for operas too.
He created numerous commercial posters, mainly in Art Nouveaux style.
Together with Joseph Urban, his brother-in-law, he painted murals, created invitation cards for summer festivals, and together with Camillo Walzel staged theatrical productions for kids. He married an opera singer Mina Weismuller who also posed as a model for a banknote for thousand Krones.
Lefler was a prolific illustrator who alone or as a member of a team signed several books and picture books. He worked for magazines too. Fairy tales by Museeow, Brothers Grimm, and H. C. Andersen are a crucial element of his legacy. Below we can see dozens and dozens of tiny detail, characteristic for Art Nouveau.
Let's conclude with a part of the Almanach / Calendar published in 1900.
It's a book with luxurious decoration, with a block-page (two consecutive pages facing each other) reserved for each month. There are no numbers or days of the week in this book. Instead of that, there is an empty space for whatever the owner wanted to insert in.
