Luigi Kasimir

1881-1962

Austrian/Hungarian

Luigi Kasimir was an Austro-Hungarian printmaker, etcher, and painter born in a town known today as Ptuj, Slovenia. He was raised in a family of accomplished artists, both his father and grandfather being notable painters in their day. Kasimir studied at the Vienna Academy of Art under William Unger, where he discovered the art of etching and met his future wife and creative partner Johanna (Tanna) Hoernes (1887-1987). Soon after, he used this acquired knowledge and his love of painting to develop a unique style of printmaking known as the multiple plate color etching process -hence changing the future of etching and printmaking as a whole at the turn of the 20th century. While Kasimir is justly famous for his etchings, he also produced oils and pastels. His work depicted landscapes, monuments, street scenes, and tourist landmarks throughout Europe and North America. His son Robert Kasimir (1904-2002) was also an etcher and a painter; in 1961, he opened his own print shop in Vienna, where he printed his own etchings, together with those made by his parents.

In 1933, Kasimir joined the National Democratic Socialist Party (Nazi Party), and later on he also joined the Sturmabteilung (or Storm Troopers/Brown Shirts), an illegal paramilitary force that greatly aided Adolf Hitler's rise to power. In 1941, Kasimir bought part of the extensive art collection of the Jewish dentist and art collector Heinrich Rieger at a suspiciously low price; this collection was one of the most important of Austrian modern art. During World War II, Kasimir sold a large part of the collection he had acquired in this way.

Disclaimer note: In November 1945, after the end of National Socialist rule, Kasimir was charged with high treason. He was also accused of unlawful enrichment through the Aryanization of the Halm & Goldmann art dealership with his art publisher Ernst Edhoffer. When Nazi Germany annexed neighboring Austria on March 13, 1938, Kasimir used his early party membership to acquire the Vienna-based art dealership Halm & Goldmann, run by Jewish art dealer and publisher Elsa Gall. According to the "purchase agreement" dated March 31, 1938 Gall had handed over the entire company, the associated publishing rights, the existing inventory and the business facilities to Kasimir and Edhoffer.

Artist profile image: Luigi Kasimir. Madison Museum of Contemporary Art.