Madame Butterfly

Artist: Adolfo Hohenstein German (1854-1928)

Title: Madame Butterfly

Plate: R.10

Description: Condition A.
Original lithograph from the "Ricordi Portfolio" 
Printed in Italy 1914. View entire collection (70)
Presented in 16 in x 20 in acid free, archival museum mat, with framing labels. Ready to frame. Shipped boxed flat via Fedex. 
Certificate of Authenticity.

Sheet Size: 10 in x 14 in 25.5 cm x 35.5 cm

Price: $750.00 reduced from $950

This stunning and extremly rare poster shows a moment from the tear-jerking last scene from Puccini’s most famous opera 'Madame Butterfly' which tells the story of the doomed marriage between a young Japanese woman, Cio-Cio-San (known as Butterfly) and an American Lieutenant called B.F. Pinkerton.

 

"I don't speak Italian, however, I can feel the passion, sadness, and longing in Maria Callas' voice. I am almost in tears when I hear this: listen here." Greg

 

The final scene in Puccini's Madame Butterfly at the Garden Theatre in New York City in 1907

 

"The title character of Madama Butterfly — a young Japanese geisha who clings to the belief that her arrangement with a visiting American naval officer is a loving and permanent marriage — is one of the defining roles in opera. The story triggers ideas about cultural and sexual imperialism for people far removed from the opera house, and film, Broadway, and popular culture in general have continue to riff endlessly on it. The lyric beauty of Puccini’s score, especially the music for the thoroughly believable lead role, has made Butterfly timeless." (pbs.org)

 

Hohenstein, first art director of the Officine Ricordi, with wife in his studio in Bonn, 1905

 

"Hohenstein spent his whole career with Ricordi the great Italian publishing company. He began working there in 1889 designing sheet music covers for operas. Shortly thereafter he became art director of the firm and began to design posters. He had a large influence on the young artists who joined the studio (Metlicovitz, Dudovitch, Capiello, Laskoff, and others) many of whom went on to great renown. After work in the early 1890s, which clearly shows the influence of Jules Cheret, Hohenstein's work, incorporating elements of Mucha's art, began to find its own flamboyant style" (Swann)

 

Printing presses "Officine G. Ricordi & C." in Milan.

 

This is a selection from the very rare commemorative portfolio published by the renowned Italian printer Ricordi in 1914. The portfolio consisted of 70 lithographic plates (smaller versions) of Ricordi's greatest posters printed between 1895 and 1914. Many of the images in the series are so rare that they can be found today in no other format. In the 1870s, Ricordi opened an in-house lithography shop to promote its operas and sheet music business. Ricordi quickly became the leading lithographer in Italy and by 1895 was creating posters for other clients such as Campari, the Milan newspaper Corriere della Sera, and the Mele Department store of Naples. Under the tutelage of Adolfo Hohenstein, a brilliant stable of artists emerged at Ricordi. Artists including Cappiello, Caldanzano, Cavaleri, Dudovich, Laskoff, Metlicovitz and Mataloni brought Art Nouveau, known as Stile Liberty in Italy, to a world class level. Much like the famous Maitre de L'Affiche series created by Cheret in Paris, this portfolio celebrated the rise of the poster - which in Italy was almost single-handedly accomplished by Ricordi. (www.internationalposter.com)