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Weltausstellung in Wien 1873
2002.R.13
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Contributing Institution: Special Collections
Title: Weltausstellung in Wien 1873
Creator: Klösz, György
Creator: Löwy, J. (Joseph), 1835-1902
Identifier/Call Number: 2002.R.13
Physical Description: 16 photographs
Date: 1873
Abstract: Sixteen photographs document exhibition buildings and exhibits of the 1873 Vienna International Exhibition. The photgraphs
are credited variously to György Klösz, Oscar Kramer, and Josef Löwy.
Physical Location: To access physical materials on site, go to the
library catalog record for this collection and click "Request an Item." Click here for
access policy .
Language of Material: Collection material is in German, English, and French.
Scope and Content of Collection
The collection comprises 16 interior and exterior views of the Vienna International Exposition of 1873 taken by György Klösz
(8), Oscar Kramer (4), and Josef Löwy (2). The photographers for two of the images have not been identified. Included are
a view of the Industry Palace from the west and a view of its south gate; views of the Monaco, Kaiser, Swedish Hunt, and Russian
Kaiser pavilions; and a view of the east gate of the Art Hall. Three photographs show sculptures by Italian artists.
Fourteen mounts bear a letterpress crest above the image with text: Viribus Unitis. The photographs are numbered and captioned
in the negative in German. All but two mounts are printed with the name of the exposition in German, French, and English below
the image, along with the credit: Photographie und Verlag der concessionirten Wiener Photographen-Association. Image titles
are taken from the negative.
Arranged by the processer in a single series: Series I. Weltausstellung in Wien 1873.
The photographs in the collection are by György Klösz, Oscar Kramer, and Josef Löwy. These men were three of the six members
of the Viennese Photographers Association which held the photographic concession for the 1873 Vienna International Exhibition.
György Klösz (Johann Georg Justus Kloess, 1844-1913) was born in Darmstadt, Germany. After studying pharmacy, chemistry, and
photography he moved to Vienna and worked in the photography studio of Hermann Heid. He took over the Budapest operations
of Heid and his partner, Ferdinand Ronninger, in 1867. In the 1870s, he was one of the first Hungarian photographers to take
photographs of the city of Budapest and other outdoor locations. While he continued to be a prolific photographer, Klösz also
branched out to other businesses. In 1879, he set up a lithographic printing press and started to produce reproductions. Between
1890 and 1894, he was co-owner of
Budapest Visitors' Magazine. Klösz taught his son Pal photography and in 1903 made him co-owner of his business.
Josef Löwy (1834 Pressburg (Bratislava), Slovakia-1902 Vienna, Austria) was a painter, publisher, and photographer. In 1848,
Löwy moved to Vienna, where he first learned lithography and then studied painting at the Vienna Academy. He opened his first
photography studio in Vienna in 1856, specializing in portraits, nudes, and landscapes. In 1861, he joined the Viennese Photographischen
Gesellschaft, and in 1864 he participated in Vienna's first photographic exhibition. Löwy was one of the early users of the
collodion process in Vienna, and in 1885, he founded an unsuccessful dry plate production business with Josef Plener. After
his death Löwy's company was continued by his widow, Mathilde Löwy, until her death in 1908, at which time their nephew, Gustav
Löwy, took it over, operating it under the name Kunstanstalt J. Löwy.
Oscar Kramer (1834-1892, Vienna) was a photographer; a dealer in photographic supplies, photographs, and art; and a publisher
of photographs. He lived and studied in Berlin as a child, but returned to Vienna in the mid-1850s where he opened a photographic
supply business in 1856. Kramer became a member of the Vienna Photographische Gesellschaft in 1861, and along with Ludwig
Schrank, founded
Photographische Correspondenz magazine in 1864, which in short order became the mouthpiece for the Photographische Gesellschaft. In 1873, Kramer became
the co-founder and commercial director of the Vienna Photographers Association. The organization was responsible for taking
over 2,200 photographs of the 1873 Vienna International Exhibition, but was dissolved the following year due to financial
difficulties.
Sources consulted:
Durstmüller. "Löwy Josef, Photograf," in:
Österreichisches Biographisches Lexikon 1815–1950, vol. 5. Vienna: Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, 1972.
Hannavy, John.
Encyclopedia of Nineteenth-Century Photography. New York, London: Routledge, 2013.
Mahler Foundation. "Josef Lowy (1834-1902)." https://mahlerfoundation.org/mahler/contemporaries/josef-lowy/
Shilpa Rele processed the collection and wrote the finding aid in 2008. Beth Ann Guynn updated the finding aid in 2020.
Acquired in 2002.
Weltausstellung in Wien, 1873. Research Library, The Getty Research Insititute, Accession no. 2002.R.13
http://hdl.handle.net/10020/cifa2002r13
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Open for use by qualified researchers.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Vienna (Austria) -- Description
Exhibition buildings -- Austria -- Vienna
Sculpture -- Italy -- 19th century
Albumen prints -- Austia -- 19th century
Kramer, Oscar
Vienna International Exhibition (Date of meeting or treaty signing: (1873).)