International special exhibition of the graphic arts Vienna 1883

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The International Special Exhibition of the Graphic Arts was held from September 15 to November 18, 1883 as a special exhibition in addition to the permanently installed art exhibition in the Vienna Künstlerhaus and enjoyed great attention in international specialist journals.

Exhibition profile

Newspaper advertisement for the exhibition from "Neue Freie Presse" from September 17, 1883

The organization was carried out by the Viennese "Society for Reproducing Art" founded in 1871. The purpose of this society was to promote art and to make masterpieces of the graphic arts available to its members through copperplate engraving , etching , woodcut and other artistic means of reproduction. The admission prices were deliberately designed so that a visit was affordable for the broader population of Vienna. The opening was made by Emperor Franz Joseph I . and enjoyed a lively participation of local and international visitors right from the start.

In addition to oil paintings as exhibits, a special focus was placed on works of graphic printing processes, such as copperplate engravings, workpieces of woodcutting, etchings as well as heliographies and heliotypes.

In addition to Austria, the German Empire with the Düsseldorf Art Academy and the Dresden Art Academy, France with its Ministry of Art, England, Switzerland, Belgium, Russia, Denmark and the United States of America with a total of around 4,000 exhibits took part in the show. In addition, a catalog was published that included all the showpieces.

The emperor's chief treasurer made loan items available, with Albrecht Dürer's “Ehrenpforte for Emperor Maximilian I” being the most spectacular, with a width of 2.5 meters and a height of 3 meters. Furthermore, the masterpiece “The triumphal procession of Maximillian I is worth mentioning”. The “Society for Reproducing Art” exhibited Louis Jacoby's engraving “Schule nach Athen” after Raphael, which he began in 1863 but did not finish until 1882. Other masters of the Vienna School exhibited were Josef von Führich, Carl Josef Alois Agricola, Sigmund Dallinger , Josef Gasser , Franz Stöber, Nikolaus Geiger , and Ludwig Voss.

The number of visitors was so surprising and overwhelming that the exhibition commission continuously extended the duration of the exhibition from the original November 1st and finally closed on November 18th, 1883.

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