Vacuum Cleaner Man (ref #79)
An original painting by Marco Montedoro depicting a costume for a vacuum cleaner salesman. Pencil notes are in the artist’s hand. Unsigned. Gouache and pencil on paper. Verso: a rough pencil sketch showing what appears to be a costume for a police officer. Dimensions: w 11 x h 14.5 in
Condition: Very good. Slightly age-toned and foxed with minor bumping to edges and corners and light marking. A small (0.5 in) closed tear to right margin.
THIS ITEM IS AT OUR DUPONT STORE.
1345113
Arts & Antiques
Price: $300
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.