MARCELLO DUDOVICH (1878-1962) FISSO L'IDEA / INCHIOSTRI DA SCRIVERE. 1899.
25 1/4x17 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.