Adolfo Hohenstein


Adolfo Hohenstein was a German painter, advertiser, illustrator, set designer and costume designer. Hohenstein is considered the father of Italian poster art and an exponent of the Stile Liberty, the Italian Art Nouveau. Together with Leonetto Cappiello, Giovanni Mario Mataloni, Leopoldo Metlicovitz and Marcello Dudovich, he is considered one of the most important Italian poster designers.

Early years

Adolfo Hohenstein was born in Saint Petersburg, the capital of Russian Empire, to German parents, Julius and Laura Irack. His father was a forest engineer, whose career prompted him to travel extensively. Adolfo moved to Vienna where he grew up and completed his studies. His travels took him to India, where he decorated the houses of the local nobility.

The Italian experience

In 1879, he settled down in Milan, Italy. He became a set and costume designer for La Scala and other theatres. There he met the musical publisher Giulio Ricordi, and in 1889 began to work for the Ricordi Graphical Workshops, where he shortly became the artistic director in charge of the graphical part. He created the posters for La Bohème and Tosca, as well as publicity for Campari, Buitoni and Corriere della Sera, numerous postcards, covers for scores and booklets. His work continued to cover the theatrical dimension: scenarios and wardrobes for several works, among them Giuseppe Verdi's Falstaff and a major part of the works of Giacomo Puccini, from the sketches of Le Villi to posters of Madama Butterfly. At Ricordi's he had as colleague Giovanni Mario Mataloni and as students Leopoldo Metlicovitz and Marcello Dudovich.

Return to Germany

In the first years of the 1900s, after marrying Katharina Plaskuda, a widow, he traveled more and more frequently between Italy and Germany till 1906, when, after winning the competition for the graphical symbol and the poster for the "Esposizione per il Traforo del Sempione", he left Milan for Bonn and Düsseldorf definitively. He settled in Bonn in 1918. The German years saw him engaged mostly as a painter and involved in the decoration of numerous buildings, among them one of the first in constructed reinforced concrete in Renania. He is associated with the Düsseldorf school of painting.
Adolfo Hohenstein died in Bonn 12 April 1928.

Main poster works

  • 1898 – Corriere della Sera
  • 1898 – Cintura Calliano contro il mal di mare
  • 1899 – Onoranze a Volta nel centenario della pila
  • 1899 – Cesare Urtis & Co. Torino. Forniture electriche
  • 1900 – Esposizione d'Igiene
  • 1900 – Monte Carlo. Tir aux pigeons
  • 1900 – Monaco. Exposition et concours de canots automobiles
  • 1901 – Bitter Campari
  • 1905 – Fiammiferi senza fosforo del Dottor Craveri
  • 1906 – ''Birra Italia''

Main theatre works (Ricordi Archives)

Exhibitions