Citta Di Bologna poster. Feste di Primavera 1900 – Marcello Dudovich

Citta Di Bologna poster  Feste di Primavera 1900 – Marcello Dudovich In 1899, the artist Marcello Dudovich moved from Milan to Bologna. He the artist not only continued his artwork for the Casa Ricordi music publishing house, he became the artistic director of the establishment Cyclotest, for the publisher Edmondo Chappuis. Here he designed billboard posters, book covers and illustrations for publications. His intense activity immediately had wide acclaim and in 1900 he won the competition to create the Citta Di Bologna poster for the Spring Festival of Bologna. Created in the new, Art nouveau art style Dudovich’s poster depicts a beautiful young woman…  the Goddess of Spring’s bounty. She is wearing a crown of flowers in her hair and is being protected or perhaps guided by a winged guardian angel who holds aloft a flaming torch. The couple are depicted in a meadow full of yellow flowers set against a rich blue sky. The warm orange morning sun casts a beautiful colourful glow over the pair. It’s going to be a beautiful day! The Feste di Primavera 1900 poster explains that the Spring festivities in May have been organised by the “Società per il risveglio della vita cittadina”. It also informs us that the Honorary President of the Society for the Awakening City is the Mayor of Bologna, Alberto Dalloli and that the Society’s Effective President is the Marquis Salina Amorini. Beneath the coat of arms of Bologna, the wonderful hand-lettered typography then goes on to announce a list of events that can be expected at the 1900 Bologna Spring Festival. These include a National Exhibition of Floriculture and Horticulture, under the high patronage of Margherita of Savo, the queen consort of Italy. A National Fencing Tournament Under the High Patronage of H.R.H. the Count of Turin. Musical performances. an Exhibition of Sacred Art. Trot and Gallop races. Horse Shows. Exhibitions of Horses and Cattle. Car Races and Parties. It also advertises a competition between the exhibitors, Pigeon Shooting, a Francesco Francia Exhibition, Photography exhibitions, Postcards,  Posters and Popular Festivals The text reads” Feste Di Primavera 1900. Maggio. Società per il risveglio della vita cittadina Presidente Onorario-Comm. Alberto Dallolio – Sindaco di Bologna. Presidente Effettivo-Marchese Salina Amorini. Esposizione Nazionale di Floricoltura ed Orticoltura sotto l’alto patronato di s.sm. la regina d\Italia. Torneo Nazionale di Schrna sotto ;’Alto Patronato di S.A.R. il conte di Torino Esecuzioni musicau. Mostra d’Arte sacra. Corse al trotto ed al Galoppo. Concorsi ippici Esposizioni di Equini E Rovini. Gare E Feste Automobilistiche. Concorso fra le mostre dei Negozi. Tiro al Piccione, Esposizione Francesco Francia. Mostre di Fotografie. Cartoline. Manifesti. Feste Popolari. The classical story behind Dudovich’s Citta Di Bologna poster image The imagery Marcello Dudovich has used as his inspiration for the stunning poster is based on Greek folklore… the story of Greek Gods, Zeus and Demeter and their daughter Persephone. The beautiful Art Nouveau inspired poster offers a romantic image that draws on mythological legend and characters. According to Ancient Greek folklore, Persephone was the daughter of Zeus, the chief God and Demeter the goddess of agriculture. Persephone was the goddess of spring’s bounty. According to Greek legend, Hades, the King of the Underworld, wished to make Persephone his wife. To do so, Hades abducted the young goddess whilst gathering flowers in the Vale of Nysa. With her daughter missing, a distraught Demeter, accompanied by the goddess Hekate bearing a torch, searched the world to find her. The search proved fruitless. When she learned that Hades had taken her to the Underworld and that Zeus had conspired in the abduction, Demeter was furious. In her anger, she neglected the harvest and refused to let the earth fruit until Persephone was returned. With earth’s mortals starving to death Zeus intervened and commanded Hades to return Persephone to her mother. During her time in the Underworld, Persephone had been fed some pomegranite seeds. Because she had eaten the food of Haides, she was not able to fully return to earth. Instead, she would have to spend half the year with her mother and half of it with her husband in the Underworld. The story is a mythological metaphor for the earth’s seasonal cycle. The annual return of Persephone to earth in spring, and her stay through the summer, is marked by the flowering of the meadows and the growth of the new grain. Conversely, her return to the underworld in autumn and winter sees the halting of growth and plants and flora dying. This, according to Greek mythology is because Demeter does not let plants grow while Persephone is absent from her life. Marcello Dudovich poster artist If you love posters, chances are you’ll be familiar with the work of Marcello Dudovich. Even if you don’t know him by name, chances are you will have seen some of his iconic images before. In addition to painting and drawing, Dudovich was also an illustrator and poster artist. He was one of Italy’s best and most prolific poster artists. Together with Leopoldo Metlicovitz, Adolfo Hohenstein and Leonetto Cappiello, he is considered a founding father of graphic design and is widely regarded as one of the most important poster artists of all time. Dudovich’s C’è una Bugatti, Non si passa poster is just one of more than six hundred created over a career spanning fifty years. Dudovich’s style is often characterised by bold colors and simplified forms. They are both eye-catching and elegant. They helped define the look of early 20th-century advertising. And they’re still beautiful to look at today. Other Marcello Dudovitch posters Marcello Duduvich’s poster artwork was inspired by the work of artists such as Edward Penfield, Adolfo Hohenstein and Alphonse Mucha. His reputation however comes from developing those influences into his own unique and distinctive style. In 1905, Dudovich worked for Ricordi Printing in Milan. Ricordi employed some of the most talented poster artists of their time. These included Leonetto Cappiello, Aleardo Villa, Leopoldo Metlicovitz, Aleardo Terzi, and Adolfo Hohenstein. Dudovich would go on to create many of his most memorable and famous posters at Ricordi. Amongst his best-known works were produced for the Italian department stores La Rinascente and Mele di Napoli. Other well-known Dudovich works are his poster for Fiat La Nuova Balilla per tutti and his advertising posters for Campari and Martini & Rossi. Dudovich is, quite rightly, celebrated as one of Italy’s greatest poster artists. This beautiful Citta Di Bologna poster would make a perfect addition to any home decor Get yours today! There are few artists in Italy who have been as celebrated and influential as Marcello Dudovich. If you are only going to have one Dudovich poster, you’ll go a long way to choose a better one than this.