Metlicovitz, Leopoldo
Name
Metlicovitz, Leopoldo
Gender
Male
Birth
1868 Trieste
Death
1944 Ponte Lambro
Descriptive Note
Leopoldo Metlicovitz was a painter, portraitist, illustrator, advertiser and stage designer. He is considered one of the founders of Italian poster art.
Metlicovitz was of Dalmatian origins (the family name was originally Metlicovich). At the age of fourteen he apprenticed in a printing house in Udine, where he learned the technique of lithography. Around 1888 he moved to Milan to complete his training and in 1892 he joined the Ricordi Company (Officine Grafiche Ricordi) as technical director, and began creating posters and illustrations for Ricordi's music editions. Metlicovitz created well-known poster advertisements for the works of composer Giacomo Puccini (Tosca, 1900; Madama Butterfly, 1904; Turandot, 1926). His llustrations also appeared in La Lettura (1906-1907, 1909) and in the Corriere della Sera. He also designed a series of posters for the Mele department stores in Naples, the trademark for the Fratelli Branca Distillerie, the producers of Fernet Branca. The poster shows an eagle with spread wings holding a bottle of the liqueur above a globe. Metlicovitz collaborated with Adolfo De Carolis in creating the poster for the launch of the film Cabiria, with script by Gabriele D'Annunzio. Metlicovitz perfected a style that celebrated the urban high bourgeoisie, with sophisticated settings and the celebration of elegant lifestyles. Others promoted technological and industrial progress, such as the poster advertizing the Tantal light bulbs, the Pirelli tires, the Fiat 509, and the Liebig buillon cubes. Metlicovitz won the competition for the poster devoted to the1906 Universal Exhibition in Milan, which celebrated the competion of the Simplon Tunnel.
In 1911, Metlicovitz also created a poster for the Exposition in Turin. He captured the spirit of the Exposition devoted to Labor and progress by representing two male nudes planting the Italian and Savoy flags.
The largest collection of Leopoldo Metlicovitz' original posters is part of the Museo Nazionale, Collezione Salce, in Treviso, Italy.
Metlicovitz: L'Arte del desiderio. Manifesti di un pioniere della pubblicità. Treviso: Museo Nazionale Collezione Salce, 2019
Marta Mazza, ed. Illustri persuasioni Belle Époque: Capolavori pubblicitari della Collezione Salce. Milano: Silvana Editoriale, 2017
Roles
Artists (Visual Artists), Painters (Artists)
Related Protagonists
Related Built Environment Objects
Related Archival Material
