Joseph Selleny (1824-1875)
Shipping on the Pasig River at Manila
signed with monogram and indistinctly titled 'JS. / Canal della Kar...' (lower right), numbered '673/73' on the reverse
pencil and watercolour on paper
unframed
13¹⁄₈ x 23¹⁄₂in. (33.3 x 59.6cm.)
Selleny was appointed artist to the voyage of the Austrian frigate Novara which circumnavigated the world between 1857 and 1859. He is thought to have produced in the region of two thousand sketches during the voyage, a selection of which were used to illustrate Scherzer's Reise der Östereichischen Fregatte Novara um die Erde, in den Jahren 1857, 1858, 1859, unter den Befehlen des Commodore B. von Wüllersdorf-Urbair, Vienna, 1861-62 (and its companion edition in English). For a recent survey of his work on the voyage, see the exhibition catalogue Der Freie Horizont, Die Weltumseglung der Novara und Maximilians Mexikanischer Traum, Landesmuseum Schloss Tirol, July-Nov. 2004. His voyage work is held in the collections of the Graphische Sammlung Albertina and Naturhistorisches Museum (Sammlung Frauenfeld, Selleny), Vienna. The Novara was at Manila 15-25 June 1858.

For similarly formatted panoramic views taken at Manila see the Landesmuseum Schloss Tirol exhibition catalogue, pp.219-20 (4.12/1 'Santa Cruz auf der Insel Manila' and 4.12/2 'Am Hafendamm von Manila').

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