Umberto Brunelleschi
Born: May 21, 1879 Montemurdo, Italy
Died: February 16, 1949 Paris, France
Born in Tuscany, Brunelleschi studied in Florence and moved to Paris in 1900 where he soon established himself as a printer, book illustrator and costume designer.
First found success with his work for Le Rire as a caricaturist (often under the pseudonym’s Aroun-al-Raxid or Aron-al-Rascid) He was a major contributor to many of the deluxe French fashion publications including “Journal des Dames et Des Modes,” “Gazette du Bon Ton” and “Les Feuillets d’Art.”
Brunelleschi was also the artistic director of the short lived but significant “La Guirlande d’art et de la litterature” 1919-1920.
In the 1920’s he diversified into set and costume designs for the Folies Bergere, the Casino de Paris, the Chatelet and theaters in New York, Italy and Germany. Among his credits include many costumes created for the marvelous Josephine Baker. Brunelleschi was among the Deco Age illustrators and the engravers whom knew how to create a publications of charm and elegance whilst also doing so with the pace and rigour of a jobbing illustrator. Also noted for his design of the Martial et Armand logo c. 1923.
His illustrated book credits include works with Voltaire (Candide, 1933), Charles Perrault (Contes du temps jadis), Musset (La Nuit Vénitienne), Goethe, Diderot (Les Bijoux indiscrets, etc.), Les Masques et les personnages de la Comedie Italienne, 1914; Phili ou Par dela le Bien et le Mal,” 1921; Le Radjah de Mazulipatam,” 1925; Le Malheureux Petit Voyage, 1926; and Les Aventures de Roi Pausole, 1930.
