Joseph Heim Vienna 1898 Lithograph Divided back 14.00x9.00cm

Possibly the earliest postcard of Hyderabad, by the Austrian artist Josef Hoffman who painted this scene during a visit to India in 1893-94 when he was in his sixties. According to an official biographical dictionary of Austrian painters, the man was “possessed of an extraordinary work-ethic, and created on these trips thousands of Aquarelle views" (Hans Vollmer, Allgemeines Lexikon der Bildenden Künstler, 1924, p. 266). When he returned to Vienna he gave lectures on his trips, and exhibited his paintings in his own temporary "Galerie Hoffman" in the center of Vienna where these postcards were likely first sold.