The exhibition “Ships in Photographs and Picture Postcards from the mid-19th to the mid-20th century” is presenting some of the material from the holdings of the Maritime and from the Cultural History Museum of Dubrovnik Museums, as well as some from privately owned collections.
The exhibition features photographs and picture postcards with motifs of ships owned by Dubrovnik shipping companies as well as ships of other companies that sailed into Dubrovnik waters. The majority of them present steamships from the fleets of the big coastal liner companies, such as Dubrovnik Steam Shipping Navigation, Austrian Lloyd, Hungarian-Croatian Steam Shipping Company, Dalmatia and Adriatic Navigation. There are some 280 photographs and postcards on show, dating from the period 1866 to the 1960s.
The oldest photograph to be seen here, from one of the best photographers in the history of Croatian photography, Tomaso Burato, was taken some time between 1866 and 1876 and features the barque Gino. Behind the lenses, apart from Burato, were Antonio Jelaska, Antun Miletić, Mario Cirkovich, Andrović-Goldstein, Giletta, Ernesto Rossi, Robario Valsente, Hansen & Sons…
Except for a few produced lithographically, most of the postcards were done from a photographic original in the photogravure and engraving techniques. The most frequently featured Croatian and Dubrovnik publishers include Ivan Kulišić, Ivo Nikoletić, Niko Bogišić, Jovan Tošović, Knjižara Jadran, factory owner Lujo Milić, Knjižara and papirnica [bookshop and stationer] I. Kordić, Ivo Manacić (Kraljevica), Antonio Bogić (Šibenik), S. Marković (Zagreb), Guido Costalungo (Pula), Knjižara Banić (Sušak), Foto Tempo (Đuro Griesbach, Dubrovnik), Foto Spezial, Photo Colbert and others. Foreign publishers of postcards depicting ships include: Austrian Maritime Association, Stengel & Co. (Dresden), Philipp & Kramer (Vienna), Brüder Pick (Vienna), Pürger & Co. (Munich), Dr. Trenkler & Co. (Leipzig), Erminio Mandel (Kotor), Teodora Margusina, Milan Mandić (Trieste), Stabilimento Tipo-Litografico E. Sambo & Co. (Trieste), Atelier Krišer (Stara Kanjiža), Art Institut – Orell Füssli (Zürich), A. Fr. Reincke (Dresden and Opatija) ...
Author of Exhibition: Ljerka Dunatov i Dino Lokas
Author of texts: Ljerka Dunatov i Dino Lokas
Language Editing: Karmela Prosoli
Translation: Graham McMaster
Visual Set up: Ivona Michl i Željko Ćatić
Graphic Design: Studio m&m
Installation Team: Pasko Burin, Željko Ćatić, Mišo Kukuruzović, Mišo Lečić, Dženita Mehičić, Ivan Mladošić
Preparation treatment: Dženita Mehičić
The exibition was produced with financial support from the Ministry of Culture and Media of the Republic of Croatia and City of Dubrovnik.