Erwin Puchinger

Erwin Puchinger was a graphic and poster artist, and a painter and industrial designer. He came from a family of civil servants and officers. He attended the painting school Schild in Wien (Vienna), and in 1891-92 also had evening classes at the Graphic Education and Research Institute (later from 1892-1901 the Austrian School of Applied Arts and Industry), and then continued his education in Paris and London.

From 1901 Puchinger was a teacher, from 1908 a Professor of Drawing (1916-18 at the war press headquarters), and from 1933 was head of the department for manual graphics on the Graphic Education and Research Institute. Erwin Puchinger designs included posters for war bonds and postage stamps. Unlike his Art Nouveau graphic and craft works his paintings were naturalistic and characterized by strict color schemes in the presentation of landscapes and scenes of rural life. Both he and his wife Elfriede Puchinger-Hoffmann (1886-1972) regularly presented at the Great German Art Exhibitions between 1938 and 1943 in München and three of his paintings were personally acquired by Adolf Hitler. Both also were members of the Vienna Secession.