Franz Kellerhoven, “Premiere Entrevue de Frédéric III avec sa Fiancée, l’Infante de Portugal”, 1870, after Pinturicchio

Franz Kellerhoven (1814–1872)

“Premiere Entrevue de Frédéric III avec sa Fiancée, l’Infante de Portugal” (First Meeting of Frederick III with his Fiancée, the Infanta of Portugal), 1870, a rare oleograph/colour lithograph (see explanation below) after the fresco, “Aeneas Piccolomini Introduces Eleonora of Portugal to Frederick III” (see http://www.travelingintuscany.com/images/art/pinturricchio/piccolomini1700.jpg) in the Piccolomini Library, Duomo, Siena, by the Italian Renaissance painter, Pinturicchio (aka Pintoricchio; Benetto di Biagio; Sordicchio) (1454–1513), published in Paris in 1870 by André Guillaumin through the Association of Lithograph Workers (Association d'Ouviers Lith Guillaumin et Cie) as an illustration between pages 160 and 161 to Paul Mantz’s (1821–1895) “Les Chefs-d'Œuvre de la Peinture Italienne” (The Masterpieces of Italian Painting) (1870). Note that this oleograph was also published with the title and additional text by Firmin Didot (1764-1863).

Archive.org offers an online view of this oleograph in its context in the Firmin Didot edition: https://archive.org/details/gri_33125008542462/page/n261/mode/2up.

Oleograph—a now virtually obsolete form of colour lithograph developed in the 1830s and leading to commercial use in the 1860s and 1870s in which a varnish layer and subtle textures and were added with each colour labour intensively hand printed from possibly thirty separate colour stones/plates (see https://www.britannica.com/technology/oleograph)—printed on buff coloured chine collé on fine wove paper (with partial watermark) with full margins as published. See other oleographs by Kellerhoven held by the British Museum: https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/P_1865-0610-53; https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/P_1865-0610-52; https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/P_1865-0610-56.

For additional information about publications featuring oleographs, see: “Dictionnaire des imprimeurs-lithographes du XIX^e siècle” at the subheading, “Informations professionnelles” (http://elec.enc.sorbonne.fr/imprimeurs/node/22463).

Regarding the artist, Pinturicchio, whose painting Kellerhoven has translated into this lithograph, I read with shocked surprise the following passage in Paul Mantz’s (1870) account of the artist’s last days: (transl.) “When Pinturicchio fell ill, his mother had the cruelty to abandon him, alone and without help, with a candle where she had locked him up. No one received his supreme farewell. Despite the public applause, despite the glorious radiance that surrounds them, these artists' lives sometimes hide painful mysteries” (p.60).

Size: (sheet) 43 x 32 cm; (chine collé) 28 x19.7 cm; (image borderline) 26.1 x 18.1 cm.

Lettered below the image borderline: (right) “Association d'ouviers Lith Guillaumin et c^ie Paris”.

Condition: a strong and well-printed impression in a near pristine condition with no tears, holes, folds, abrasions, losses, stains or signs of handling.

I am selling this jewel-like rare example of an early form of labour intensive handprinted colour lithography, called an oleograph, involving the use of subtle textures, varnish and the use of possibly thirty individual colour plates, for AU$234 (equivalent to approximately US$151.76, EUR 133.33, or GBP 111.89 at the time of listing) and includes Express Mail Service (EMS) postage and handling to any worldwide destination. Please note that any import duties or taxes levied by the destination country, if any, are the responsibility of the buyer and are not included in the purchase price. Payment is requested in Australian dollars (AU$234).

If you are interested in purchasing this incredibly fine and very beautiful oleograph, please contact me (oz_jim@printsandprinciples.com) and I will send you a PayPal invoice to make the payment easy.

This print has been sold