Arthur Thiele

Carl Robert Arthur Thiele was born on November 2, 1860 in Leipzig. He was the son of Carl Gotthelf Thiele (1813–1885), an instrument maker, and his wife Friederike Wilhelmine Flügel (1817–1874) and grew up and studied art there.

Arthur trained as a decorative painter, so he was a painter without training at an art academy, who often designed anthropomorphic depictions of cat and animal motifs, which also appeared in series. His depictions of animals show humanized traits. He also worked on motifs with events of the time, such as advances in technology (automobiles, airships, balloon flights) and changes in society (emancipation).

Starting in 1895/96, Thiele delivered numerous drafts for postcards to the publisher Ottmar Zieher, Munich. He had business connections with 109 publishers in Germany, Switzerland, Great Britain (Tuck & Sons), Austria and Russia. His main business partner was the Theodor Stroefer publishing house in Nuremberg (abbreviation: T.S.N.), which published around 1,500 of the artist's cards. He usually used "Arthur Thiele Lpzg" as his signature, his name and an abbreviation for Leipzig. There are also short signatures by him.  

He always lived in his hometown of Leipzig and married Anna Louise Fischer there on May 1, 1886, with whom he had the privilege of celebrating their golden wedding anniversary. Carl Robert Arthur Thiele, as his full name is, was considered a calm and sensitive person. His colleagues gave him the nickname "Dachshund-Thiele" because there are many postcards by him with motifs of dachshunds. He died on June 18, 1936 in Leipzig.