I Buffoni - Vintage Adv Lithograph by L. Metlicovitz - 1914 1914

Image dimensions: 26.2x9.1 cm. I Buffoni is a beautiful colored lithographed original manifesto 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 1914, this advertising poster for ''I Buffoni'' is inspired by the Art Nouveau graphic style. 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 Liberty atmosphere is palpable from the sensuality of the female body appearing flat and emptied and turning into a mere twisted black contouring 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 / 70 x 200. In excellent conditions, except for some minor stains along the margins. This modern artwork shows the vintage Art Nouveau taste and the Metlicovitz's draftsmanship and his 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. This artwork is shipped from Italy. Under existing legislation, any artwork in Italy created over 70 years ago by an artist who has died requires a licence for export regardless of the work’s market price. The shipping may require additional handling days to require the licence according to the final destination of the artwork.