It was once very hard, if not impossible,
to depict the humor of daily life in a photograph.
Even by the 1900s cameras were still tricky to operate
with limitations on recording light and motion.
The notion of taking a spontaneous snapshot was still unthinkable,
so capturing any impromptu funny event onto a negative
was a difficult endeavor for a photographer.
And in color?
That was preposterous!
to depict the humor of daily life in a photograph.
Even by the 1900s cameras were still tricky to operate
with limitations on recording light and motion.
The notion of taking a spontaneous snapshot was still unthinkable,
so capturing any impromptu funny event onto a negative
was a difficult endeavor for a photographer.
And in color?
That was preposterous!
But for an artist
humor was easy.
With clever imagination
any laughable idea
could be quickly sketched,
painted and printed.
And color?
No problem!
humor was easy.
With clever imagination
any laughable idea
could be quickly sketched,
painted and printed.
And color?
No problem!
A skilled artist could illustrate movement
that a photographer could never duplicate.
that a photographer could never duplicate.
They could assemble subjects
that would never pose for a camera.
that would never pose for a camera.
And for a talented artist
the lighting and perspective
of a country landscape
were easily done.
the lighting and perspective
of a country landscape
were easily done.
While a photographer might wait forever
to get the right combination
of subject, scene, and action,
an artist only needed
another clean sheet of paper.
to get the right combination
of subject, scene, and action,
an artist only needed
another clean sheet of paper.
A photographer could place actors in a studio
to recreate some theatrical skit,
but an artist was free to arrange
everyone and everything
exactly anywhere they liked.
to recreate some theatrical skit,
but an artist was free to arrange
everyone and everything
exactly anywhere they liked.
Even pictures with fantastic props
and absurd adventures
were simple for a inventive artist to draw.
and absurd adventures
were simple for a inventive artist to draw.
This weekend I continue a series on postcard art
with another story on Fritz Schönpflug (1873 – 1951),
an Austrian artist, whose postcards described
the colorful characters and outlandish lifestyles
found in his city of Wien–Vienna
during the final decades
of the Austrian-Hungarian Empire.
with another story on Fritz Schönpflug (1873 – 1951),
an Austrian artist, whose postcards described
the colorful characters and outlandish lifestyles
found in his city of Wien–Vienna
during the final decades
of the Austrian-Hungarian Empire.
Last year I featured some of his postcards
on horse-drawn carriages in my story entitled:
Getting Around in Old Wien.
on horse-drawn carriages in my story entitled:
Getting Around in Old Wien.
This story extends that exhibit
with more examples from Fritz Schönpflug
of Viennese transport.
with more examples from Fritz Schönpflug
of Viennese transport.
The first postcard shows a motorcycle and sidecar
driven by a brave soldier
with his stout officer seated beside him.
driven by a brave soldier
with his stout officer seated beside him.
The card was never mailed
but Schönpflug's signature ends with 909
which signifies 1909.
The officer's saber and smug smile
complete the gentle joke.
but Schönpflug's signature ends with 909
which signifies 1909.
The officer's saber and smug smile
complete the gentle joke.
* * *
The second postcard has a cavalryman and his horse
jumping to avoid colliding
with a young soldier on a bicycle.
The caption reads:
Höher gehts nimmer
~
It never goes higher
The postmark is obscured
but it may be dated 1915 as
it has a military censor's frank.
The initials K.u.k. stand for
"Kaiserlich und Königlich", i.e. "Imperial and Royal"
for Kaiser Franz Josef's complicated position
as Kaiser (Emperor) of Austria, and King of Hungary.
jumping to avoid colliding
with a young soldier on a bicycle.
The caption reads:
Höher gehts nimmer
~
It never goes higher
The postmark is obscured
but it may be dated 1915 as
it has a military censor's frank.
The initials K.u.k. stand for
"Kaiserlich und Königlich", i.e. "Imperial and Royal"
for Kaiser Franz Josef's complicated position
as Kaiser (Emperor) of Austria, and King of Hungary.
* * *
The third postcard shows another near-collision,
this time between an automobile
and a drum-horse of a mounted military band.
The caption reads:
Feindliche Pferdekräfte
~
Enemy horsepower
this time between an automobile
and a drum-horse of a mounted military band.
The caption reads:
Feindliche Pferdekräfte
~
Enemy horsepower
This postcard was sent from Wien on 25.11.09
by Mama (?) and Papa to their child.
by Mama (?) and Papa to their child.
* * *
The next postcard is a confrontation
between an automobile and a very large bull.
The front is decorated with several notes
including the date 5 Dicembre 1906.
It was sent from Belgium
to Monsieur and Madam Jacques Hollander
in Italy.
between an automobile and a very large bull.
The front is decorated with several notes
including the date 5 Dicembre 1906.
It was sent from Belgium
to Monsieur and Madam Jacques Hollander
in Italy.
* * *
The next three postcards are my favorites
because they are true flights of fantasy
that only an artist could dream up.
In the first card Schönpflug designs
a flying Viennese hackney carriage, or Fiaker,
suspended from a gas balloon
and propelled through the air
by a motorized propeller.
The driver holds a steering wheel as if guiding a horse
while his two passengers seem blissfully unconcerned
at their airborne carriage's height above the rooftops.
I think the artist may be subtly suggesting
that the woman is pregnant too,
as if swinging in a cradle.
because they are true flights of fantasy
that only an artist could dream up.
In the first card Schönpflug designs
a flying Viennese hackney carriage, or Fiaker,
suspended from a gas balloon
and propelled through the air
by a motorized propeller.
The driver holds a steering wheel as if guiding a horse
while his two passengers seem blissfully unconcerned
at their airborne carriage's height above the rooftops.
I think the artist may be subtly suggesting
that the woman is pregnant too,
as if swinging in a cradle.
This card was not mailed
but Schönpflug's signature dates it as 1909.
but Schönpflug's signature dates it as 1909.
* * *
The next postcard is a similar flying Fiaker,
with the two passengers, a woman and her dog,
complaining to the driver that
he is going in the wrong direction.
In this design Schönpflug
makes a steering bar with reins
for the driver to hold.
This card was sent from Wien
on the 30 July 1909.
The writer added a caption, probably humorous, to the front,
and a message in Czech to Marka Fiskrova (?)
in the town of Švihov, in the Klatovy District,
of Bohemia, now the Czech Republic.
with the two passengers, a woman and her dog,
complaining to the driver that
he is going in the wrong direction.
In this design Schönpflug
makes a steering bar with reins
for the driver to hold.
This card was sent from Wien
on the 30 July 1909.
The writer added a caption, probably humorous, to the front,
and a message in Czech to Marka Fiskrova (?)
in the town of Švihov, in the Klatovy District,
of Bohemia, now the Czech Republic.
* * *
The last postcard of flying Viennese transport
shows a marvelous aerial tram
filled with passengers and their bags
approaching a rooftop to pick up another rider.
shows a marvelous aerial tram
filled with passengers and their bags
approaching a rooftop to pick up another rider.
The front of the card has a long detailed message
which is in Hungarian as the postage stamp and postmark
are from Hungary's Postal Service.
It was sent to someone in Bad Swinemünde, Germany,
now Świnoujście, Poland,
which was a spa town on the Baltic coast of Pomerania.
which is in Hungarian as the postage stamp and postmark
are from Hungary's Postal Service.
It was sent to someone in Bad Swinemünde, Germany,
now Świnoujście, Poland,
which was a spa town on the Baltic coast of Pomerania.
It's interesting to note that the postcard
shows three versions of dating conventions.
1909 viii 9 9.8.1909 909 Aug 10
shows three versions of dating conventions.
1909 viii 9 9.8.1909 909 Aug 10
The postcards produced by Fritz Schönpflug were sold in many places in central Europe and to judge by the number and variety they were very popular with the public. His humor and wit convey a quality rarely found in photographs of this era. And of course he was painting with the colors we never see in early photos. That is especially interesting to see in his portrayal of Viennese fashion and uniforms.
In 1910 Wien was a center of European culture, a capital city of grand art, opulent architecture, and beautiful music for a multitude of nationalities that made up the Austrian-Hungarian Empire. Schönpflug postcards chronicle this vibrant period of Wien's urban life as it adapted to the modern inventions of the 20th century. For most Viennese people of the time the idea of flight and speed probably seemed unbelievable. Yet the Wien Museum has a wonderful watercolor painting by Jakob Alt of a Balloon flight over Vienna in 1847. And one of the first automobiles was built in Wien in 1888 by Siegfried Marcus (1831-1898). So Schönpflug's subjects were not entirely foreign ideas.
The horse-drawn carriage,
or Fiaker as it's called in Austria,
is still a traditional form of transportation
for getting around old Wien.
But here's a new improved innovation
for a 21st century E-Fiaker
that I think Fritz Schönpflug
would laugh to see
as he quickly pulled out his sketchbook.
or Fiaker as it's called in Austria,
is still a traditional form of transportation
for getting around old Wien.
But here's a new improved innovation
for a 21st century E-Fiaker
that I think Fritz Schönpflug
would laugh to see
as he quickly pulled out his sketchbook.
++++
++++
This is my contribution to Sepia Saturday
where everyone is on wheels this weekend.
where everyone is on wheels this weekend.
6 comments:
I loved all your wonderful fun postcards. But the one with the car encountering the bull had me remembering a funny adventure of my own. I was driving on an old road & came around a corner to find a herd of cattle blocking my way. A woman & her son were tossing bales of hay from the back of a pickup truck & she motioned me to come on ahead, so I cautiously proceeded. I soon found myself surrounded front, back, & sides with bawling cows. Lord-a-mercy, what was I doing?! But I kept easing on ahead, tooting my horn now and then and gradually was through and breathing a laughing sigh of relief. It was an experience to remember for sure. Also the time I found myself unexpectedly driving alongside a herd of galloping horses, but that's another story. :)
What a fun collection of comic cars. I enjoyed too your commentary on the advantages artists had over cameras.
I am so glad you collected these post cards! What great art of humor they represent...on the human condition and the beginnings of motorized (and air lifted) transportation. Though I couldn't understand the narrator of the video, it was an interesting modern contraption.
I love this post, and you are so right about illustration being able to capture what a camera cannot. Will have to look for more illustrations for my blog! That said, I love that these post cards all seem to depict the clash between older modes of transportation and new -- and in some cases the fanciful incorporation of the old into the new (as in the flying vehicles). The cartoonist clearly lived at a time of change when the public was adapting to new technologies, but perhaps still had misgivings -- and these jocular works of art may have been intended to help move them along into the modern era.
What fabulous illustrations and accompanying humour. I sure wouldn’t have wanted to be the poor bloke pushing that fat General around!
I never thought about the difficulty of capturing humor in early photography.
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