After Rudolf von Alt — Constantinople from Pera, Chromolithograph, c. 1880s
$ 44.88
Description
After Rudolf von Alt — Constantinople from Pera, Chromolithograph, c. 1880s. Bilingual Hungarian/English titling dates this to the late-Dual-Monarchy period of Habsburg portfolio publishing, when Vienna and Budapest competed for export-market reach. The print: Multi-stone chromolithography (probably 8–15 stones for the color buildup), with the characteristic stippled granular surface texture of high-quality late-19th-century chromolitho production. A late-19th-century chromolithograph reproduction after Rudolf von Alt — the dominant Austrian view-painter of the 19th century — showing Constantinople from the European-quarter heights of Pera (modern Beyoğlu) looking south across the Golden Horn. Bilingual Hungarian/English titling dates this to the late-Dual-Monarchy period of Habsburg portfolio publishing, when Vienna and Budapest competed for export-market reach. The print: Multi-stone chromolithography (probably 8–15 stones for the color buildup), with the characteristic stippled granular surface texture of high-quality late-19th-century chromolitho production. After a Rudolf von Alt watercolor from his 1834 Constantinople trip with his father Jakob Alt (Alt revisited the subject multiple times). The image documents Constantinople in a late-Ottoman moment, with urban-architectural fabric that periodic great fires + Tanzimat-era rebuilding subsequently altered. The publication: Bilingual Hungarian/English titling ("Constantinápoly…" + "View of Constantinople…") is diagnostic of late-Dual-Monarchy Hungarian art-portfolio publishing — atypical pairing (German+Hungarian would be standard for domestic Habsburg distribution). The English title suggests export-oriented production for the British or American market. The provenance: After-von-Alt chromolithographs were how middle-class 19th-century collectors encountered the artist; original Alt watercolors are in major institutional collections (notably the Albertina, Vienna). Possible period manuscript signature on mount — readings tentative, pending close inspection. Condition: Significant fold-related tear in the upper portion of the plate (probably from opening/closing in the original portfolio binding); edge wear and creasing along several edges; foxing and toning in margins and titling areas; bottom shows wave-like deformation suggesting historical humidity exposure. The image area itself is largely intact — major damage concentrates in margins and at fold lines, not the chromolithographic image surface. For collectors of 19th-century Habsburg-Hungarian art-portfolio publishing, Orientalist view imagery, or after-von-Alt chromolithographs — a damaged but image-intact reproduction of one of Alt's Constantinople studies, suitable for archival framing that hides the margin issues. Included: Chromolithograph as shown.
