Arthur Thiele

Carl Robert Arthur Thiele (2 November 1860 – 18 June 1936) was a German painter, illustrator, draftsman, postcard designer, and watercolourist.

Thiele was born in Leipzig, 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.

[1] Thiele's younger son Emil Max Fritz Thiele wrote in 1969: "All his life, with a few exceptions, he was doing bread and butter work, which, however, gave him great satisfaction... sheet music, diplomas, postcards, book illustrations, designs for paper lanterns, school primers, children's books, jokes, and much more.

Among other subjects, he specialized in humanized animals, especially dachshunds and cats, and among fellow illustrators he was known as 'Dachshund-Thiele' or 'Katzen-Thiele'.

They had two sons: Carl Arthur Walter (born 1889), who became a painter, graphic artist, and lecturer at the Leipzig Academy of Art, and Emil Max Fritz (1899–1971).