59x38½ inches, 149¾x97¾ cm. Sepo, Paris. Condition B / B+: replaced and overpainted loss in upper right corner; repaired tears, creases, abrasions and restoration at edges and in image and along vertical and horizontal folds; repaired pin holes in corners. Framed.
Having studied in Bologna, Sepo began his artistic career working for the publisher Maga in his native Italy. He moved to France in 1920 and was hired by Vercasson. Ultimately he moved on to the French office of the Dorland Advertising Agency where he worked with their major clients. One of his first accounts was the shirt-maker Noveltex, with whom he continually worked over the course of almost 20 years. His first project for them was recorded in 1925 and his last published poster for the company was designed in 1951. His signature Art Deco approach to the object poster used a soft cubist style and a red, black, and white palette. One of his earlier images for the company featured a cubist-inspired shirt, and he went on to this cubist-inspired version of a dapper gentleman, using rectangles and circles as his nose and eyes in a daring, modernist way. It is a classic, highly creative Art Deco image.
Crouse p. 155, Sepo / University di Parma p. 198, Weill / Art Deco p.183.
