Dickens Christmas Characters (ref #32)
Two original paintings by costume designer Marco Montedoro, each depicting three women in full skirts. One of the paintings is labeled “Costumes for Dickens Xmas Carols,” and is signed by the artist in pencil at the lower right corner. The other is unsigned. Gouache and pencil on paper. Dimensions: w 14 x h 11 in. Condition: Very good. Both age-toned and minimally foxed, with minor bumping to edges and corners. Versos: light marking and yellowed tape, with small patches of minor surface damage from adhesive removal. A few marks in blue ballpoint pen to versos.
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1341611
Arts & Antiques
Price: $400 save 20% $320
NOTES
Marco Montedoro (1887-1947) was born in Italy to a family of musicians. Regarded as a child prodigy, he was sent to Paris to study drawing and painting as a teenager. He established himself as an artist there, and remained in Paris until 1913 when he became the artistic director of the Metropol in Berlin. Montedoro moved back to Italy for the duration of WWI, where he designed posters for Italian theaters and cinemas. He returned to Paris after the war, and found work designing costumes for Le Palace, Les Ambassadeurs, Moulin Rouge, and Folies Bergère (including a 1927 production featuring Josephine Baker). During this period, he also designed productions in Milan, Berlin, London, St. Petersburg, and Poland.
In 1930, Montedoro relocated to New York City and designed for the Schuberts, including the 1941-1942 Broadway production of La Vie Parisienne. From 1932-1947, he worked alongside Vincinte Minelli designing sets and costumes for Radio City Music Hall, where Montedoro became head designer. Montedoro's talent is featured in Angelo Luerti's 2006 book Non Solo Erté - Not Only Erté, Costume Design for the Paris Music Hall 1918-1940.
Provenance: Before his death, Montedoro gave a significant collection of his designs to his close friend Hella Aronson (a German Jewish newspaper illustrator who had emigrated to New York from Nazi Germany before the beginning of WWII). The collection has remained with the Aronson family since that time.