ERBERTO CARBONI (1899-1984) STABILIMENTO GRAFICO ALBERTO ZANLARI PARMA. 1926.
14 1/4x10 3/4 inches, 36 1/4x27 1/4 cm. Stabilimento Grafico Alberto Zanlari, Parma.
Condition A-: light water stains in bottom margin; minor creases in image; pencil notations in upper left image. Paper. Framed.
Carboni studied art in Parma, and upon finishing his studies in 1921, went to work as a book and magazine illustrator and caricaturist. Among his earliest posters are several Mannerist, Art Deco style calendars for the local Parma printer Alberto Zanlari. This example, however, does not have a designated space for calendar pages, so was likely intended as a small poster. He moved to Milan in 1932 and began working for the famed Boggeri Studio before heading out on his own. Throughout his illustrious career, he worked on campaigns for prominent companies such as Motta, Barilla, Pirelli, Shell and the Italian National Radio, and also designed exhibition and trade fair displays. Filippo Darra, writing for an exhibition on Carboni in 2004 at the Museo Bocchi in Parma, explains that with Carboni's early work, the "stroke is fluid, sometimes interrupted by geometric inserts to create a dynamic and coloristic effect." rare.