1860 -1934 · Rome, Paris and Art Nouveau

Winding silhouettes, colorful lithography and decorative refinement place Manuel Orazi at the heart of the Parisian Art Nouveau poster.

Emmanuel-Joseph-Raphaël Orazi, known as Manuel Orazi, was born in Rome in 1860 and died in Paris in 1934. A French artist of Italian origin, he led a career of remarkable diversity: painter, illustrator, poster designer, decorator, designer of jewelry and designer for the theater then the cinema. After work for the music publisher Ricordi, he settled in the Parisian graphic landscape of the 1890s. His posters for Loïe Fuller, Sarah Bernhardt, the Olympia, the railways and numerous brands combine flexible line, female figure and integrated typography. He collaborated closely with La Maison Moderne, a gallery and decorative arts store founded in 1899 by Julius Meier-Graefe at 82 rue des Petits-Champs. The La Maison Moderne poster transforms the elegant woman into the incarnation of the new interior: stylized profile, hair, dress, objects and letters participate in the same arabesque. Orazi does not separate the advertising image from decorative art. He also designs catalogs, esoteric illustrations, jewelry and show sets, then works for the cinema, particularly around Atlantis. His career also shows how Art Nouveau unites printed images, fashion, stage and commerce in a total visual language. The "Manuel Orazi" selection notably compares La Maison Moderne. His reading favors drawing.

At Orazi, advertising becomes a complete setting: the figure, the letters and the object follow the same continuous line.