Aug 03, 2023 - Sale 2643

Sale 2643 - Lot 45

Price Realized: $ 15,000
?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 10,000 - $ 15,000

LEOPOLDO METLICOVITZ (1868-1944)

ALLA SPEZIA. 1907.


59x41 3/4 inches, 149 3/4x106 cm. [G. Ricordi & C., Milan].
Condition B: losses and foxing in margins; loss with overpainting at right edge, into image; repaired tears, replaced losses, creases and restoration in margins and image and along vertical and horizontal folds. Mounted on paper.

Announcing the launch of Italy's pre-dreadnought class battleship Roma, this extraordinary allegorical image depicts a mermaid bearing the emblem of the Italian state; the battleship itself is launched (stern first) into the waters off La Spezia into the Ligurian sea, accompanied by a host of italian flags and a large plume of water. This is the top portion of the poster, without the additional text sheet at the bottom listing all the information regarding the festivities surrounding the launch. Rare. We haven't found another copy at auction in over 25 years. Menegazzi p. 68, Manifesto Italiano 74 (var), Ricordi 192 (var).

Additional Details

Property of Penn State's Palmer Museum of Art, sold to benefit the acquisitions fund.