Leopoldo Metlicovitz
1868–1944 · Italian painter, illustrator and poster designer of the Art Nouveau period
Leopoldo Metlicovitz (Trieste, 1868 – Ponte Lambro, 1944) was an Italian painter, illustrator, stage designer and poster artist associated with Art Nouveau. Together with Leonetto Cappiello, Adolf Hohenstein, Giovanni Maria Mataloni and Marcello Dudovich, he is regarded as one of the founders of modern Italian poster art.
The son of a merchant of Dalmatian origin, he trained as an apprentice in a printing house in Udine, where he learned lithography. There he was noticed by Giulio Ricordi, owner of the Casa Ricordi, who brought him to Milan. After a spell with the photographic firm Tensi, he rejoined Ricordi in 1892 as technical director. His talent for posters won him recognition with the advertisement for the 1906 Milan Universal Exhibition, and he also worked for the Neapolitan tailor Mele and for many magazines.
Among his best-known images are the poster for the film Cabiria and the trademark still used by Fernet Branca, an eagle above a globe. For Ricordi he also produced calendars, postcards and opera librettos. From 1915 he devoted himself mainly to painting, favouring landscapes and portraits, and he settled permanently in Ponte Lambro. His legacy lies in early twentieth-century Italian poster design.