I’ve seen a lot of prints but phew!...c1891 40 ½” x 31 ½”

[CarltonHendricks]

[FONT="Arial"][SIZE="4"][COLOR="Navy"]I just got this print about a week ago. I believe it was printed in Germany…I really like it for a lot of reasons. First of all it represents an actual climb. One of the climbers Michael Innerkofler was a renowned pioneer of the sport known as the King of the Dolomites. He is the climber at the top of the scene. The Dolomites Mountains comprises a mountain range in the northern Italian Alps, with 18 peaks, reaching 1.86 miles above sea level, and covering 547 square miles. His nephew Sepp Innerkofler who would be killed in WWI fighting for Austria is seen below him.





On the fourth of July 1915, an Austrian soldier died on a remote mountaintop in the Dolomites. In the history of the Alpine front, where Italy and Austria battled for three terrible years, two men stand as symbols of each nation's passion and pathos: Caesare Battisti, patriot of Italy and the Trentino who was executed by the Austrians, and Sepp Innerkofler, the Tyrolean mountaineer, who died defending his homeland on that July Day. Innerkofler, father and noted mountain guide, had taken up arms to fight what he perceived as interlopers and enemies, his Italian neighbors who had once waved at him from nearby peaks, or shared a smoke in the climbing hutte on summer evenings. -worldwar1.com



The artist E. T. Compton who did the original painting is seen on the left. The original painting was done in 1888 posthumously after Michael Innerkofler was killed climbing Monte Cristallo in 1888, when a glacier's snow bridge collapsed. In turn this print is dated 1891.
The original post above was corrected to the paragraph below

The artist E. T. Compton who did the original painting is seen on the left. The original painting was done in 1888. Michael Innerkofler was killed climbing Monte Cristallo in 1888, when a glacier's snow bridge collapsed. Perhaps Compton did the painting posthumously after Michael Innerkofler was killed to honor him. Or perhaps it was just a coincidence and he died after the painting was produced in 1888. This print is dated 1891, so produced a few years after the original painting.



Another thing I like about the print is the artist Edward Theodore Compton 1849-1921, usually referred to as E. T. Compton was an accomplished climber as well as an artist. So the scene would certainly be true to life, as opposed to an artist who only visualized a climb.



Apart from his art, Compton was also an excellent climber, highly regarded by Blodig for his "brilliant mountaineering skill on ice and rock, his truly admirable perseverance, his inexhaustible patience in bearing hardships". He was a member of the exclusive Alpine Club and the German and Austrian Alpine Association.

Amongst his notable ascents were: Torre di Brenta first climbed in 1882; Cima Brenta, first climbed by the south wall in 1882; Odle} (Large Fermeda); Aiguille Blanche de Peuterey (ascent in 1905 with Karl Blodig); Grossglockner, climbed at the age of 70! -Wikipedia



I got this from a dealer in England that charged me $250.00 for shipping. At first I thought the shipping was out of line, but it came from England next day delivery. Once I got it unpacked I could see why he sent it overnight…The original frame and wavy glass were exquisite. The glass is so early it has bubbles in it and would be a real loss if broken. So not only is the print great but the treatment, that is the quality of the frame, is the finest I’ve ever owned. You can feel the old world quality when you hold it...weighs a ton.