“Ex Libris Hanny Pirchan”, 1913

Emil Pirchan (1884–1957) studied architecture at the class of Otto Wagner (1841–1918) from 1903 to 1906 at the Vienna Academy of Fine Arts. He subsequently worked primarily as a commercial artist, and from 1919 was among the leading stage designers in the German-speaking world. By his own admission, the universally talented artist created more than 1,500 works of commercial art when he lived in Munich between 1908 and 1918, including some 50 posters, numerous logos, bookplates, poster stamps, designs for packaging, technical illustrations for user manuals, calendar sheets, invitation cards, book illustrations, templates for flyleaves, coloring books for children as well as playing cards. In 1913, he founded a private art school for advertising art in Munich. That same year, he married Johanna Diehl, the daughter of privy councilor Dr. Julius Diehl, the private physician of Luitpold, Prince Regent of Bavaria. The bookplate for “Hanny” (H) was designed by Emil (E) as a confession of love, featuring two arrows in polygonal hearts which adopt the shape of the abbreviated landscape with two castles on hills; the same motif, though in a multicolored version, was used for the cover of their wedding menu card in August 1913.

IR, 2023