Description

Description: We offer a signed pochoir by the Italian designer Umberto Brunelleschi. The image is 16 ⅜” x 12 ⅜” and matted within a silver frame which measures 24 ½” x 20”. It is signed and inscribed in graphite along the lower margin: “96 La danse orientale U Brunelleschi”. It also has the artist’s printed signature in the lower corner of the image. A nimble dancer peaks out from a comically large turban and is depicted mid leap with a gravity defying skirt. A masked guitar player looks on. Brunelleschi uses scale and volume in a playfully elegant way that is entirely his own. Item #PR00264.

Umberto Brunelleschi (June 21, 1879 – February 16, 1949) was born in Montemurlo, Italy, studied at the Accademia delle Belle Arti in Florence and moved to Paris in 1900. He worked for Le Rire as a caricaturist under the pseudonym Aroun-al-Raxid or Aron-al-Rascid. He contributed illustrations to many French publications including Journal des Dames et Des Modes, La Vie Parisienne, Gazette du Bon Ton and Les Feuillets d’Art.

Condition: There is a small burr in the ink above the dancer’s right arm, likely an artifact of the printing process.The piece has not been examined out of frame but the matting appears to be archival and the print is in good condition with vivid ink and no apparent toning.