Aug 03, 2023 - Sale 2643

Sale 2643 - Lot 42

Price Realized: $ 25,000
?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 25,000 - $ 35,000

LEOPOLDO METLICOVITZ (1868-1944)

MOSTRA DEL CICLO E DELL'AUTOMOBILE / MILANO. 1907.

79x55 inches, 200 1/2x139 3/4 cm. G. Ricordi, Milan.
Condition B / B+: small losses at edges; repaired tears, replaced losses, creases and abrasions in margins and image and along vertical and horizontal folds; offsetting in image; slight darkening in text; ink stamps in text and image. Two-sheets. Mounted on paper.

For Milan's 1907 automobile and cycle show, Metlicovitz devised a stunning allegory of the old gods versus the new. Here, a winged deity is flying next to a speeding vehicle. In an unsuccessful attempt to keep up with modernity, he has even removed his laurel wreath to keep it from blowing off at such high speeds; and yet, the car is still in the lead. More than just a powerful, symbolic image, the poster is a master work of lithography, in which soft pastel shades are used to make a strong impression. Bolaffi p. 143, Menegazzi p. 81, Manifesti Italiani p. 38, Maitres 1900 p. 234.
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Additional Details

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