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MARCELLO DUDOVICH (1878-1962)
8
●
FISSO L’IDEA / INCHIOSTRI DA SCRIVERE. 1899.
25
1
/
4
x17
1
/
4
inches, 64x43
3
/
4
cm. Dott. E. Chappuis, Bologna.
Condition A-: foxing and minor tears in margins; sharp creases in bottom margin; minor creases in margins
and image; tape on verso. Paper.
Dudovich was one of the most prolific and important Italian poster artists. He designed more than
600 posters in a career that spanned over half a century. From 1899-1905, he worked in Bologna for
the printer Chappuis, then he moved to Milan and began working for G. Ricordi. Throughout his
career, he worked for all of the major Italian companies, but he is best remembered for the images he
designed for the Italian department stores Mele and À La Rinascente. Italian poster artists towards the
end of the 19th century had a fondness for images that reflected Roman antiquity, with a preference
for sculptural heroes. What might have appeared kitschy in the hands of a different artist became
decorative and extravagant with Dudovich. This poster was his first big success. A brilliant slogan
matched with a striking image of a naked man, who has dipped his whole hand into ink and is writing
on the wall. The composition of the ink enveloping the floor around him, coating his bare legs, gives
the scene a hypnotic power, exuding a sensuous, quasi-erotic sensation. Dudovich lets the image stand
alone by grouping all of the text for the poster in a separate field at the bottom.
RARE
. We could find
no other copy at auction since 1989. Dudovich / Trieste fig. 55, Dudovich p. 32, Menegazzi p. 140,
Bolaffi p. 84, Heller & Chwast p. 71, Gallo p. 141.
[3,000/4,000]