Painter and illustrator Julius Engelhard was born in the former Dutch East Indies in Sumatra. He studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in München, was a member of the New Munich Poster Artists Association and a contributor to Simplicissimus and numerous other magazines such as Elegante Welt and Echo Continental producing title pages in the Art Deco style. He created numerous advertising posters, especially for the German cigarette factory Manoli, and, later during the Weimar Republic, his focus shifted to political posters.