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Leopoldo Metlicovitz
Sunlight Sapone - Vintage Adv Lithograph by L. Metlicovitz - 1900 ca.

1900 ca.

About the Item

Image dimensions: 27.4x20 cm. Sunlight Sapone is an amazing colored lithograph on cardboard, realized by the Italian artist and one of the fathers of the modern Italian poster art, Leopoldo Metlicovitz (Trieste, 1868 - Ponte Lambro, 1944). Printed by Officine Ricordi, Milan in 19o0, the advertising manifesto for "Sunlight Sapone" ( Sunlight Soap) representing two women washing their clothes, is inspired by the Art Nouveau graphics taste. Indeed Metlicovitz, through the Ricordi, realized much advertising posters and manifestoes for many emerging companies such as Pirelli, Ettore Moretti, Magazzini Mele in Naples, relied with his talented pencil. The atmosphere is that of the Liberty, where the sensuality of the female body appears flat and emptied and turns into a mere twisted black contoruring graphic line. The colors are enameled, the languid glances, the fixed smiles, veined by an almost imperceptible underground decadence that is a prelude to the First World War. This is a wonderful vintage advertising poster, with the inscriptions printed on lower margin, under the image: "L. Metlicovitz / Off. G. Ricordi and C. Milano / 100 x 200. In excellent conditions. This modern original poster shows the vintage Art Nouveau taste and the Metlicovitz's full mastery of the artistic medium, has the dignity of an object of art to collect and could be a colorful and fashionable piece for your sophisticated home furniture. Leopoldo Metlicovitz (Trieste, 1868 - Ponte Lambro, 1944) The Italian painter, illustrator, theatrical and advertising scenographer is considered one of the precursors of Futurism and, together with Leonetto Cappiello, Adolf Hohenstein, Giovanni Maria Mataloni and Marcello Dudovich, one of the fathers of modern Italian poster art. He began his artistic career at the age of fourteen working as an apprentice in a typography in Udine, where he learned the technique of lithography. Here he is noticed by Giulio Ricordi, owner of the namesake Officine Grafiche, who invites him to Milan to work as a lithographer. In 1892, after collaborating with Tensi, a photographic product company, he returned to Ricordi as technical director. At the same time, he entered the theatrical environment and began his career as a set designer and costume designer at La Scala. The Mele di Napoli tailoring company entrusted him with the task of advertising his clothes and in 1906, on the occasion of the great Universal Exposition in Milan, he won the competition for the fair poster, establishing himself also as a poster artist and then collaborating with several magazines as an illustrator. For Ricordi he takes care of the illustrations of calendars, opera librettos, postcards. Other famous images created by him are those for the poster of the film Cabiria, a blockbuster of the silent film scripted by Gabriele D'Annunzio, and the trademark that is still used today by the Brothers Branca Distilleries, producers of Fernet Branca. From 1915 until the last years of his life he devoted himself to painting, landscapes and portraits.
  • Creator:
    Leopoldo Metlicovitz (1868 - 1944, Italian)
  • Creation Year:
    1900 ca.
  • Dimensions:
    Height: 14.18 in (36 cm)Width: 10.24 in (26 cm)Depth: 0.04 in (1 mm)
  • Medium:
  • Period:
  • Condition:
    Insurance may be requested by customers as additional service, contact us for more information.
  • Gallery Location:
    Roma, IT
  • Reference Number:
    Seller: M-1017881stDibs: LU65034533662
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