Marcello Dudovich - Gallo

Animal depictions in art have ancient origins, appearing even in primitive cave paintings. For religious reasons, various types of animals appear in the works of various ancient civilizations. It was especially in the Middle Ages, within the International Gothic style, that animal depictions became widespread as true life portraits, both within works of art and in notebooks of drawings and sketches. The presence of animals as subjects in art remained constant until the contemporary era. The subject of the rooster, in particular, has enjoyed great popularity among contemporary artists. Consider, for example, the many variations found in the works of Antonio Ligabue, Luciano Minguzzi, and Bruno Cassinari.

This work is part of a series of excellent artist's proofs in which artist and illustrator Marcello Dudovich showcases his skill in drawing technique. The work has a sketchy quality, clearly a quick sketch. However, its immediacy enhances its value as a testimony to a different Dudovich than that of his official production. The remarkable craftsmanship of this drawing lies precisely in the rapidity of the stroke, which with just a few lines manages to delineate not only the form of an animal and its volume, but also a landscape view endowed with a tangible spatial depth.

Poster designer, illustrator, decorator, and painter Marcello Dudovich was born in Trieste in 1878 and moved to Milan around 1898, where he was hired by Officine Ricordi as a lithographer. In 1899, the lithographer Edmondo Chappuis invited him to Bologna, where he began producing advertising posters and, later, covers, illustrations, and sketches for various magazines—including "Italia Ride" (1900)—and was among the founders of "Fantasio" (1902), revealing another side of his multifaceted artistic personality. In 1900, he was awarded the gold medal at the Universal Exhibition in Paris, and in the following years he collaborated on the illustrations for the Christmas issue of "Novissima" and the color covers of "La Lettura" and "Rapiditas." Between 1917 and 1919, he worked in Turin for various companies (Fiat, Alfa Romeo, Pirelli, Carpano, and Assicurazioni Generali), also producing numerous cinema posters. Between 1920 and 1929, he created posters for "La Rinascente" in Milan. In 1920 and 1922, he also participated in the Venice Biennale. Marcello Dudovich passed away in Milan in 1962.

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