Fritz Zerritsch, the Younger (1888-1981) (after)
Hofmanndruck (printer)
Jura II: Malm -- Landschaft
[Jurassic II: Malm -- Landscape]
probably from Die Geschichte des Lebens auf der Erde
[History of Life on Earth]
Hippolyt, Vienna: c. 1955
Printed signature in the matrix
Color process poster, on wooden rollers
27 x 39 inches
$950
Dinosaurs of the Jurassic Period
Vintage Poster, Vienna: c. 1955
Vintage Poster, Vienna: c. 1955
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Educational poster of dinosaurs showing the landscape around the Malm aquifer of Lower Bavaria and Upper Austria during the Upper Jurassic period. The composition is dominated by a stegosaurus in the center, with a ceratosaurus, pterodactyl, and a pair of archaeopteryxes in the background. Small inset illustrations in the lower margin include a numbered key to the animals and plants depicted and various fossils.
Fritz Zerritsch was an Austrian painter and graphic artist who spent his life in Vienna. As a painter he favored landscapes and animal subjects, such as horses, birds and game animals. He was the son of Fritz Zerritsch the Elder, a sculptor and graphic artist, and studied at the Academy of Vienna. Zerritsch had his first solo show in Vienna in 1911 and subsequently exhibited throughout Europe. Beginning in 1938, he taught at the Vienna School of Graphic Arts. His wide-ranging output also included designs for stamps and banknotes, including the 1,000 schilling banknote in 1938, as well as posters, tapestries, mosaics and frescos. Zerritsch's artwork is in the Osterreichische Galerie, the Albertina, and other museum collections.
Zerritsch did the artwork for a color poster series called Die Geschichte des Lebens auf der Erde [History of Life on Earth] in 1955 and another on Geologie von Niederösterreich [Geology of Lower Austria] in 1962. Based on this, we have tentatively identified the offered poster as being from the 1955 series.
Condition: Generally very good with the usual overall light toning and wear. Some soft creases from rolling and handling. Mounted on wooden rollers, as issued.
References:
Bénézit, E. Dictionnaire critique et documentaire des Peintres, Sculpteurs, Dessinateurs et Graveurs. France: Librairie Gründ, 1966. Vol. 8, p. 848.
Thenius, Erich. "Jahre Paläontologie an der Universität Wien (1945-1984)." Jb. Geol. B.-A. Vol. 128. Vienna: October 1985. p. 235. Online at http://www.geologie.ac.at/filestore/download/JB1282_227_A.pdf (11 May 2011).
"Zerritsch, Fritz." The-ArtGallery.eu. 2011. http://www.the-artgallery.eu/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=34&Itemid=51 (11 May 2011).