Date: 1914 (original, larger sized poster printed in 1898)
Size: 10.25 x 14 inches
Artist: Adolfo Hohenstein
About the artist: Adolfo Hohenstein was a German painter, advertiser, illustrator, set designer and costume designer. Hohenstein is considered the father of Italian poster art and an exponent of the Stile Liberty, the Italian Art Nouveau. Together with Leonetto Cappiello, Giovanni Mario Mataloni, Leopoldo Metlicovitz and Marcello Dudovich, he is considered one of the most important Italian poster designers.
About this piece: This beautiful poster belongs to the Portfolio "Gli Avvisi delle Officine G. Ricordi e C. Milano" (The Advertisements of the G. Ricordi & Co. Graphics Works, Milan) a famous and rare collection published around 1914, inspired by the famous French publication Les Maîtres de l'Affiche. The complete collection contains 70 color lithographic plates (chromolithographs) in a reduced size format. It represents an extraordinary testament to the golden age of the Italian advertising poster and Art Nouveau (Liberty style) graphics, closely tied to the world of opera and the Ricordi music publishing house.
This poster was originally commissioned to promote a grand theatrical performance and festive carnival ball (veglione) organized by the Lombard Association of Journalists at the Teatro Lirico in Milan. Stepping entirely away from typical theatrical drama, Hohenstein created a bizarre and striking allegory. The poster depicts a large polar bear advancing across a frozen blue snowscape, crunching down on red carnival masks strewn on the ground. The juxtaposition of the fierce arctic beast and the delicate, discarded red masks beautifully balances the winter season with the unbridled, fleeting spirit of a costumed Italian carnival night.
