?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 4,000 - $ 6,000
LEOPOLDO METLICOVITZ (1868-1944) INTERNATIONALE AUSSTELLUNG MAILAND. 1906. 40 1/2x27 3/4 inches. G. Ricordi & C., Milan. Condition B / B+: Sharp vertical and horizontal folds; minor discoloration and repaired tears in margins. Japan. A student under Hohenstein at the Ricordi Studios, Metlicovitz quickly became a master of graphic design in his own right. He was one of the most versatile poster artists and could change his style from tender Art Nouveau imagery to statuesque allegory. When the Simplon tunnel opened in 1906, it provided the first direct rail link between Northern Europe and Italy. This poster won a competition organized to announce the opening of the tunnel. It is an allegorical image in high Liberty style, of which Metlicovitz was a master, depicting Mercury (the God of Commerce), riding on the fender of a train emerging from the darkness of the tunnel into the wide open Italian countryside, with Milan in the distance. The poster exists in two sizes, and several different languages. This is the smaller format, in German. Manifesto 39 (var), Weill 141, Maitres 1900 p. 131 (var).
