Joseph Knaffl
| Joseph Knaffl | |
|---|---|
| Born |
October 9, 1861 Wartburg, Tennessee, United States |
| Died | March 23, 1938 (aged 76) Knoxville, Tennessee |
| Resting place |
Old Gray Cemetery Knoxville, Tennessee |
| Nationality | American |
| Known for | Photography |
| Notable work | "Knaffl Madonna" (1899) "The Young St. John" (1903) "The Prophets" (1904) |
| Spouse(s) | Lula May Atkin |
Joseph Knaffl (October 9, 1861 – March 23, 1938) was an American art and portrait photographer, active in Knoxville, Tennessee, during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He is best known for his 1899 portrait, "Knaffl Madonna," which has been reprinted thousands of times, and is still used for Hallmark Christmas cards. Knaffl was a partner in two Knoxville studios: Knaffl and Brother, formed in 1884, and Knaffl and Brakebill, formed in 1909.
Knaffl was born in Wartburg, Tennessee, in 1861, the son of Austrian-born physician, Rudolph Knaffl, and his wife, Rosalie. Rudolph Knaffl had been a court physician at the emperor's court in Vienna before moving to the United States in the aftermath of the Revolutions of 1848. After serving as a Union Army physician during the Civil War, Dr. Knaffl moved his family to Knoxville, where he practiced medicine.
Joseph Knaffl attended schools in Knoxville and Nashville. He learned photography working at the studio of his brother-in-law, early Knoxville portraitist T.M. Schleier. In 1884, he and his brother, Charles, formed their own studio, Knaffl and Brother. This studio, which eventually moved into a building on Gay Street, focused primarily on artistic photographs. Following Charles's death in 1904, Knaffl continued running the studio alone or with various partners.
In 1909, Knaffl formed a portrait studio with one of his protégés, James Brakebill (though he continued to manage Knaffl and Brother as a separate studio). Knaffl was in charge of the photography exhibit at the Appalachian Exposition of 1910, and Knaffl and Brakebill provided much of the portrait work for the National Conservation Exposition of 1913. He operated Knaffl and Brother until his death in 1938.
Knaffl was married to Lula May Atkin, the daughter of Knoxville hotel and real estate magnate, Samuel T. Atkin. Knaffl's son, also named Samuel, joined Knaffl and Brother in 1924, and assumed control of the business after his father's death. Samuel Knaffl died in 1969, and the business, which had evolved into a framing gallery on Kingston Pike, passed to his widow, Sarah. It finally closed in 1987. A grandson of Knaffl, Edward Hurst, Jr., was a noted portrait painter in the 1960s and 1970s.
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