Located in Myrtle Beach, SC
Joseph Fleischmann, 'Whaling' (Hartingers Wandtafeln: Zoologie T. XXXII), monumental vintage color lithograph, 1900. Signed in the matrix, lower right. A superb, beautifully nuanced impression, on cream wove paper, the full sheet with margins (1 1/2 to 2 3/16 inches), in very good condition. The full sheet, unmounted and unmatted—shipped carefully rolled and protected.
Sheet size 28 x 38 1/2 inches (711 x 978 mm).
Rendering by A. Berger after Joseph Fleischmann. Published in "Hartinger's Wandtafeln Zoologie" (Hartinger's Zoological Wall Charts) by "Verlag von Carl Gerold's Sohn, Wien" (Published by Carl Gerold's Son, Vienna), 1900.
This Artic whaling scene depicts a Greenland whale in the foreground pursued by whalers. A whaling ship is seen in the background and at right, another whale among icebergs with seagulls overhead. The composition is exceptionally accomplished. Rather than depicting the whale as a specimen, Fleischmann presents it as a monumental living creature within its Arctic environment. The distant sailing ship and whaleboats establish scale, while the drifting pack ice, seabirds, and subdued northern light create an atmospheric narrative. The image succeeds equally as a work of natural history and as a decorative maritime print.
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Josef Fleischmann was an Austrian painter, illustrator, and lithographic designer active in Vienna during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Working at a time when Vienna stood among Europe's foremost centers of chromolithographic printing, he became known for producing richly detailed natural history illustrations that combined scientific accuracy with exceptional artistic craftsmanship.
Fleischmann worked for the distinguished Viennese publisher Carl Gerold's Sohn, contributing illustrations to the celebrated educational series Hartinger's Wandtafeln, a collection of zoological and botanical wall charts produced for schools, universities, and scientific institutions throughout the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Printed by the renowned lithographic establishment of Albert Berger...
Category
Early 1900s Naturalistic Prints and Multiples