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| Artist: Franz
Laskoff Polish (1869-1921) |
Item: R. 34
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Title: E & A Mele
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Description: Condition
A.
Original lithograph from the "Ricordi
Portfolio"
Printed in Italy 1914. View entire
collection (70)
Presented in 16 in x 20 in acid free, archival museum mat, with framing
labels. Ready to frame. Shipped boxed flat via Fedex.
Certificate of Authenticity.
See our Terms of Sale |
| Sheet Size: |
10 in x 14 in |
| |
25.5 cm x 35.5 cm |
|
| Price: $450.00 USD |
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"The gentleman is trying on an impeccably tailored coat in somber
grey; to offset it, the background is a bright yellow. Without overstating
the point, Laskoff sets a scene for Mele of utter elegance and refinement.
A portrait painter and landscapist, Laskoff
(born Franz Laskowski in Bromberg, Germany) traveled in France, England
and elsewhere, but most of his work was done in the early-1900s in
Italy, where he proved that he could match the best graphic artists
of his day. He produced about twenty posters, all of them very distinguished,
in a style that was uniquely his own." (Rennert)
Several full size versions of Mele (department store) posters have
sold in the $7000 to $20,000 price range during the 1990's. Most images
are not seen in any other version today other than the Ricordi Portfolio,
which itself has become very rare.
Not only did Mele, billed "the great Italian store of Naples" attract
the country's finest posterists, but they have gone out of their way
to provide their client with their very best designs. The elegant
people who inhabit all Mele posters, with their seductive looks, well
matched, delicately coloured outfits, and an overall poise normally
associated with the upper class, became the role models of a new bourgeois
awareness.
This is a selection from the very rare commemorative portfolio published
by the renowned Italian printer Ricordi in 1914. The portfolio consisted
of 70 lithographic plates (smaller versions) of Ricordi's greatest
posters printed between 1895 and 1914. Many of the images in the series
are so rare that they can be found today in no other format. In the
1870s, Ricordi opened an in-house lithography shop to promote its
operas and sheet music business. Ricordi quickly became the leading
lithographer in Italy and by 1895 was creating posters for other clients
such as Campari, the Milan newspaper Corriere della Sera, and the
Mele Department store of Naples. Under the tutelage of Adolfo Hohenstein,
a brilliant stable of artists emerged at Ricordi. Artists including
Cappiello, Caldanzano, Cavaleri, Dudovich, Laskoff, Metlicovitz and
Mataloni brought Art Nouveau, known as Stile Liberty in Italy, to
a world class level. Much like the famous Maitre
de L'Affiche series created by Cheret
in Paris, this portfolio celebrated the rise of the poster - which
in Italy was almost single-handedly accomplished by Ricordi.
(www.internationalposter.com)
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