Poster "Butterfly" of the 20th century Paul Pfurtscheller 1912

Wall poster on a large scale of the moult (molt) and stages (stages of development) of larvae of the "Pieris brassicae', ('great white' or 'cabbage' Butterfly). Lithograph on 2 sheets of paper, mounted on canvas. Bright colors, a few creases and discolouration, cracks in the top center, slightly cropped at the top, protection tape on the edges, but overall very good condition considering its age and use. Author and Illustrator was Professor Paul Pfurtscheller. Pfurtscheller (1855-1927) produced a series of 39 'Beaitifull Wandtafeln' (Zoological wall plates) to be used for higher education purposes. Although he was a high school teacher in modest training he won the recognition by the scientific community in the world for this outstanding work. The butterfly is "Plate 24" in the series. Pfurtscheller wall paintings were first published in Vienna, Austria, in 1902, by 'widow & Sohn of A. Pichler. Later editions were published by the Dutch company "Martinus Nijhoff" until 1953. This article was published in Vienna, Austria, by "In A. Pichler widow & Sohn" likely in 1912. Nice use of colors and it is one of the first editions on all sides, while later editions used offset printing. Of course, lithography is an extremely demanding technique - especially at the level of this large scale - up to 20 cycles of manual printing for a single piece, because each color should be applied separately. These colors of course should not be to ride in the end. This process is giving lithographs their extraordinary depth and unusual longevity to their colors. State: A few wrinkles, but overall very good condition has given its age and usage.

Ref. : UKVLycg