Adolfo Hohenstein's fame was founded on a special artistic talent. He acquired this artistic name in Italy. His birth name was Adolf Iruck. Hohenstein produced paintings that played with optical illusion in the highest artistry. The so-called trompe-l'oeil painting produces a three-dimensional illusion that makes fascinating pictorial motifs possible: people climb out of picture frames, small rooms appear visually like a portico through skilful wall painting. After his undergraduate studies at the Academy of Arts in Vienna, Hohenstein devoted his graduate studies to precisely this painterly focus. With his talent, he traveled to India and Siam (Thailand) as a student. The princely families in these countries were enthusiastic and had their living rooms decorated with illusionistic paintings. Particularly popular were the motifs of people climbing out of picture frames. Hohenstein's most important commission was to paint portraits of the royal family of Siam. Around 1878 he returned to Europe and finished his art studies. He moved to Milan and lived briefly as a painter. He carefully revised his application portfolio with the reference works from Siam and India. With this, he applied to be a costume designer and stage designer at the world-famous La Scala in Milan. In 1880, he was hired there.
During his life he designed about 600 costumes for theater and opera productions. Absolutely impressive, however, were his stage designs. They created for the audience the impression that they were in palaces with domed ceilings and columns or looking into the street alignments of a city. These beautiful sets illustrated, among others, the operas of the two most famous composers at La Scala in Milan: Guiseppe Verdi and Giacomo Puccini. They made the opera house the navel of the musical world of the time. The opera scores were printed, of course, and were to sell worldwide. The music publisher Giulio Ricordi was responsible for this. He was also generally charged with organizing publicity for La Scala in Milan. He was helped by the talent of Adolfo Hohenstein. First, he commissioned him to provide the opera scores with beautiful illustrations. Second, he had a novel advertising idea. In Paris, he had noticed advertising posters in the Art Nouveau style. In Germany, this is called Jugendstil. Ricordi wanted exactly such advertising posters in this art style for La Scala in Milan. Adolfo created them and the advertising was used not only in Italy. Internationally, these advertising posters promoted Italian operas. By this measure, the Art Nouveau style gained artistic acceptance in Italy and was given the name: Stile Liberty.
Ricordi gradually transformed the music publishing house into an international advertising agency. First, he released Hohenstein from his employment contract and hired him as art director. Ricordi succeeded in landing orders from several Italian opera houses for his agency - read: Adolfo - to design the stage and costume sets. At the same time, more and more companies commissioned their own opera-style advertising posters from Ricordi. Hohenstein fell in love with a German widow in 1900 and married her in 1903, commuting between Germany and Italy for a while. One of his last major works for Ricordi was the entire stage and costume design, including outdoor advertising, for Puccini's opera "Madame Butterfly." Hohenstein moved to Germany. From now on, he earned most of his money with genre painting, public commissions from the city of Bonn, and his original talent: he decorated distinguished town houses with illusionistic trompe l'oeil painting.
Adolfo Hohenstein's fame was founded on a special artistic talent. He acquired this artistic name in Italy. His birth name was Adolf Iruck. Hohenstein produced paintings that played with optical illusion in the highest artistry. The so-called trompe-l'oeil painting produces a three-dimensional illusion that makes fascinating pictorial motifs possible: people climb out of picture frames, small rooms appear visually like a portico through skilful wall painting. After his undergraduate studies at the Academy of Arts in Vienna, Hohenstein devoted his graduate studies to precisely this painterly focus. With his talent, he traveled to India and Siam (Thailand) as a student. The princely families in these countries were enthusiastic and had their living rooms decorated with illusionistic paintings. Particularly popular were the motifs of people climbing out of picture frames. Hohenstein's most important commission was to paint portraits of the royal family of Siam. Around 1878 he returned to Europe and finished his art studies. He moved to Milan and lived briefly as a painter. He carefully revised his application portfolio with the reference works from Siam and India. With this, he applied to be a costume designer and stage designer at the world-famous La Scala in Milan. In 1880, he was hired there.
During his life he designed about 600 costumes for theater and opera productions. Absolutely impressive, however, were his stage designs. They created for the audience the impression that they were in palaces with domed ceilings and columns or looking into the street alignments of a city. These beautiful sets illustrated, among others, the operas of the two most famous composers at La Scala in Milan: Guiseppe Verdi and Giacomo Puccini. They made the opera house the navel of the musical world of the time. The opera scores were printed, of course, and were to sell worldwide. The music publisher Giulio Ricordi was responsible for this. He was also generally charged with organizing publicity for La Scala in Milan. He was helped by the talent of Adolfo Hohenstein. First, he commissioned him to provide the opera scores with beautiful illustrations. Second, he had a novel advertising idea. In Paris, he had noticed advertising posters in the Art Nouveau style. In Germany, this is called Jugendstil. Ricordi wanted exactly such advertising posters in this art style for La Scala in Milan. Adolfo created them and the advertising was used not only in Italy. Internationally, these advertising posters promoted Italian operas. By this measure, the Art Nouveau style gained artistic acceptance in Italy and was given the name: Stile Liberty.
Ricordi gradually transformed the music publishing house into an international advertising agency. First, he released Hohenstein from his employment contract and hired him as art director. Ricordi succeeded in landing orders from several Italian opera houses for his agency - read: Adolfo - to design the stage and costume sets. At the same time, more and more companies commissioned their own opera-style advertising posters from Ricordi. Hohenstein fell in love with a German widow in 1900 and married her in 1903, commuting between Germany and Italy for a while. One of his last major works for Ricordi was the entire stage and costume design, including outdoor advertising, for Puccini's opera "Madame Butterfly." Hohenstein moved to Germany. From now on, he earned most of his money with genre painting, public commissions from the city of Bonn, and his original talent: he decorated distinguished town houses with illusionistic trompe l'oeil painting.
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