Johann Vincenz Cissarz
Johann Vincenz Cissarz studied painting at the Hochschule fur Bildende Kunste in Dresden under Leon Pohle, Georg-Herman Freye and F. W. Pauwels. After producing monumental altarpieces and murals he took up book illustration and poster design. By 1899 he was actively involved in the Dresden craft workshops, with designs for furniture, commercial art and wallpaper, and recognized widely for the quality of his posters and typography. He took part successfully in the Deutsche Kunstausstellung in 1899 and the Heim und Herd exhibition in 1900.
In 1903 Cissarz moved from Dresden to the artists' colony at Matildenhohe, near Darmstadt, designing furniture for the Blaues Haus. His typographic work on the catalogues for the exhibitions of Darmstadt artists in 1904 and 1905 and his posters and advertisements for Bad Nauheim in 1904 were notable contributions to modern advertising.
In 1906 the artist became director of book design at the teaching and experimental workshop of the Verein Wurtembergischer Kunstfreunde in Stuttgart, later attaining a professorship. Recognition of the 'Cissarz Latin' typeface in 1911 secured his renown as a book designer. He continued to paint, producing decorative murals for the Hoftheater, Stuttgart, from 1912, and for the Friedenskirche in Offenbach. His furniture designs were executed by the Bernhard Stadler workshops in Paderborn; a piano design was executed by Schiedmayer & Suhne.
From 1916 until his later years he taught painting at the Kunstgewerbeschule in Frankfurt am Main. He died in 1942 at the age of 69.
