The New International Encyclopædia/Keppler, Joseph

KEPPLER, Joseph (1838-94). An Austrian cartoonist. He was born in Vienna, February 1, 1838. He studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna, and contributed cartoons to leading periodicals of that city. He went on the stage as comedian and opera singer, and in 1868 went to Saint Louis, where he also studied medicine. In Saint Louis he established the German Puck, the failure of which caused him to move to New York, where he was employed as caricaturist for Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper from 1872 to 1877. In 1875 he started another German Puck, in partnership with Adolph Schwartzman. The colored political cartoons of this paper became famous, and in 1877 the English edition appeared. Keppler died in New York City, February 19, 1894. He was the first artist to introduce colored cartoons. Much of his success was due to a clever adaptation of classical and historical subjects to modern life.