Marcello Dudovich (21 March 1878 – 31 March 1962) was an Italian

painter Painting is a Visual arts, visual art, which is characterized by the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called "matrix" or "Support (art), support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with ...

illustrator An illustrator is an artist who specializes in enhancing writing or elucidating concepts by providing a visual representation that corresponds to the content of the associated text or idea. The illustration may be intended to clarify complicate ...

, and poster designer. Together with

Leonetto Cappiello Leonetto Cappiello (9 April 1875 – 2 February 1942) was an Italian and French poster art designer and painter, who mainly lived and worked in Paris.

Adolfo Hohenstein Adolfo Hohenstein (18 March 1854 – 12 April 1928) was a German Painting, painter, advertiser, illustrator, set designer and costume designer. Hohenstein is considered the father of Italian poster art and an exponent of the ''Stile Liberty'', ...

, Giovanni Maria Mataloni and

Leopoldo Metlicovitz Leopoldo Metlicovitz (17 July 1868 – 19 October 1944) was an Italians, Italian Painting, painter, illustrator and Poster artist, poster designer. Together with Leonetto Cappiello, Adolfo Hohenstein, Adolf Hohenstein, Giovanni Maria Mataloni ...

he is considered one of the progenitors of Italian poster design.

Biography

Marcello Dudovich was born in 1878 in

Trieste Trieste ( , ; ) is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is the capital and largest city of the Regions of Italy#Autonomous regions with special statute, autonomous region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia, as well as of the Province of Trieste, ...

to an Italian mother and a Dalmatian father. His father, Antonio Dudovich, born in Traù (Trogir),

Dalmatia Dalmatia (; ; ) is a historical region located in modern-day Croatia and Montenegro, on the eastern shore of the Adriatic Sea. Through time it formed part of several historical states, most notably the Roman Empire, the Kingdom of Croatia (925 ...

, was a fervent Italian irredentist who fought alongside

Giuseppe Garibaldi Giuseppe Maria Garibaldi ( , ;In his native Ligurian language, he is known as (). In his particular Niçard dialect of Ligurian, he was known as () or (). 4 July 1807 – 2 June 1882) was an Italian general, revolutionary and republican. H ...

during the

Third Italian War of Independence The Third Italian War of Independence () was a war between the Kingdom of Italy and the Austrian Empire fought between June and August 1866. The conflict paralleled the Austro-Prussian War and resulted in Austria giving the region of Venetia (p ...

, and worked for the insurance company

Assicurazioni Generali Assicurazioni Generali S.p.A. ( , ; meaning 'general insurances') or commonly known as Generali Group is an Italian insurance company based in Trieste. As of 2022, it is the largest insurance company in Italy and ranks among the world's largest i ...

. Marcello attended the prestigious Royal School in Trieste. Upon completing his studies, he began working with his father as a lithographer and illustrator for advertising art, prints and posters. He relocated from Trieste to

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

in 1897 after attending a professional art school. He was recruited as a lithographer by Ricordi, a music publisher, thanks to his father's friendship with the illustrator and cartoonist

, and was given charge over advertisement design. In 1899 he transferred to

Bologna Bologna ( , , ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in northern Italy. It is the List of cities in Italy, seventh most populous city in Italy, with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nationalities. Its M ...

, working here for the publisher Edmondo Chappuis, designing billboards, book covers and illustrations for publications such as '' Italia Ride'' in 1900 e '' Fantasio'' in 1902. Here he met Elisa Bucchi, his future wife. In 1900 he won the "Gold Medal" at the Paris World Fair. In 1905 Dudovich returned to Milan to rejoin Ricordi. Here, in the next few years, he designed some of his well-known posters, including a series of famous advertising posters for the department store (E & A Mele) in Naples and "

Borsalino Borsalino Giuseppe e Fratello S.p.A. is the oldest Italian company specializing in the manufacture of luxury hats. Since 1857, the manufacturer has been based in Alessandria, Piedmont. The founder, Giuseppe Borsalino, is remembered for creating ...

". In the 1920s he made several posters for the Milan department store,

La Rinascente ; ) is a high-end Italian department store chain that operates nine stores in Italy, including two flagship locations in Milan ( Piazza del Duomo) and Rome (Via del Tritone). The company was a member of the International Association of Depar ...

, and in 1922 he was appointed artistic director of "Igap". In 1930 he designed a prominent poster for

Pirelli Pirelli & C. S.p.A. is an Italian multinational tyre manufacturer based in the city of Milan, Italy. The company, which has been listed on the Borsa Italiana since 1922, is the 5th-largest tyre manufacturer, and is focused on the consumer pro ...

. After the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

he moved away from the world of commercial art, concentrating instead on his painting. Marcello Dudovich died in Milan from a

cerebral hemorrhage Intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH), also known as hemorrhagic stroke, is a sudden bleeding into the tissues of the brain (i.e. the parenchyma), into its ventricles, or into both. An ICH is a type of bleeding within the skull and one kind of stro ...

on 31 March 1962. Dudovich is celebrated as one of Italy's greatest poster artists. He was inspired by

Edward Penfield Edward Penfield (June 2, 1866 – February 8, 1925) was an American illustrator in the era known as the "Golden Age of American Illustration" and he is considered the father of the American poster. His work has been included in almost every majo ...

, by his friend and teacher

and by

Alphonse Mucha Alfons Maria Mucha (; 24 July 1860 – 14 July 1939), known internationally as Alphonse Mucha, was a Czech painter, illustrator, and graphic artist. Living in Paris during the Art Nouveau period, he was widely known for his distinctly stylized ...

. But ultimately his reputation comes from his having developed his own very distinctive and richly coloured style.

Gallery

File:Fedora, opera by Umberto Giordano, poster, 1899.jpg, Poster for the Umberto Giordano opera "Fedora," 1899. File:Siberia, opera by Giordano, poster for the 1903 premiere.jpg, Poster for the premiere of "Siberia" the opera by Giordano, 1903. File:Archivio-ricordi-ars-et-labor-marcello-dudovich-1907-2-345x500.jpg, Illustration for the cover of "Ars et Labor" (Art and Labor) magazine, 1907. File:Per la libertà e la civiltà del mondo - M. Dudovich. LCCN2004666223.jpg, WWI recruitment poster, seeking to inspire enlistment by touting freedom and civilization (la libertá e la civiltá), 1917.

References

External links

Marcello Dudovich
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dudovich, Marcello 1878 births 1962 deaths 19th-century Italian painters Italian male painters 20th-century Italian painters 20th-century Italian male artists Italian poster artists Art Nouveau painters Art Nouveau illustrators Italian illustrators Artists from Trieste 19th-century Italian male artists Emigrants from Austria-Hungary to Italy