1879-1949

Umberto Brunelleschi was an Italian painter, illustrator and scenographer. He studied at the fine arts academy in Florence and exhibited his work in Italy, then settled in Paris around 1900.

There he quickly became part of a circle of young poets in the Latin Quarter and found work as a caricaturist and illustrator in a Modernist style influenced by the Orientalism of Leon Bakst and Erte, as well as the elegance of 18th century Florentine art.

A favorite subject was the Comedia del Arte. He also designed costumes for the flamboyant performer Josephine Baker.
In the 20s and 30s, he was mainly occupied with theater set design for La Scala, the Folies Bergere and New York’s Roxy Theatre.

During the latter decades of his life he concentrated on book illustrations, including numbered editions of erotica.

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Prints from Umberto Brunelleschi