Leopoldo Mtetlicovitz
(1868-1944)
Italian
illustrator
was
Hohenstein’s greatest pupil. An Italian of Serbian descent,
Metlicovitz came to Ricordi as a lithographer’s assistant in
1891, and within a year became its technical director. He
went on to become Ricordi’s most prolific artist and its
artistic director after Hohenstein left the firm.
Many of
Metlicovitz’s greatest posters were allegorical. His
prize-winning design for the 1906 International Exposition,
which marked the opening of a locomotive tunnel through the
Alps, is a dramatic portrayal of Mercury riding the engine
on its maiden voyage. His spectacular image of Mercury
racing alongside a speeding automobile for his Mostra del
Ciclo e dell Automobile (1907) is likewise a masterpiece of
poster art.
