Manuel Orazi
Manuel Orazi was an Italian Art Nouveau illustrator, poster artist, and jewelry designer, and a set creator for theater and film.
Not much is known about him and his background is obscure. He was born in Rome on October 5, 1860.
A September 1907 manifest from SS La Provence sailing from Le Havre to Ellis Island mentions a wife residing in France: "Mrs Orazi in Fontainebleau." According to his death certificate, at the time of his death he was married to Marie Agnan and lived in Rue de l'Université 195, Paris.
He died in Paris on October 28, 1934.
Notable works
In 1895 he created the Calendrier Magique, an occult-themed calendar still noted for its graphic design. Limiting it to 777 copies, he collaborated with popular French author Austin de Croze, who wrote the text.Sympathetic to the French Decadent movement, as well as Symbolism and Aestheticism, he contributed with illustrations and typographic ornaments in books and short stories such as:Ma petite ville by Jean LorrainPrincesse d'Italie by Jean LorrainAventures merveilleuses de Huon de Bordeaux by Gaston ParisAnne-Marie, La Providence by Daniel LaumonierLes vierges de Syracuse by Jean BertheroyNévrose by Émile MorelHenri de Régnier, biographie by Paul LéauteaudÉmile Faguet, biographie by Alphonse SéchéCamille Lemonnier, biographie by León BazalgetteThéodora, impératrice de Byzance by Charles DiehlLe Nouveau Jeu by Henri LavedanLa danseuse de Pompéi by Jean BertheroyLa Morphine by Victorien Du SaussayDu Mystérieux au Tragique by Arthur Conan DoyleL'Epouse du Soleil by Gaston LerouxLa guerre du feu by J.-H. RosnyLes troix yeux by Maurice LeblancHeroides by OvidLe Butineur by Félicien ChampsaurAphrodite by Pierre LouÿsLes Fleurs du mal by Baudelaire
Orazi illustrated an early Art Deco French edition of the 1891 one-act play by Oscar Wilde, Salome.
He made jewelry designs that were displayed at Maison de l'Art Nouveau in 1896. In 1899 he designed some of the first pieces of jewelry for the Maison Arnould. His jewelry designs were also sold at La Maison Moderne. Orazi designed one of the best known posters for La Maison Moderne as well as the cover of one of La Maison Moderne's catalogs which features Cleo de Merode in profile, perhaps wearing a design by Henri Van de Velde.
For her theater at the Universal Exposition in Paris in 1900, Loie Fuller commissioned Orazi to create the poster, which was printed in three editions and three color schemes.
In 1921 he designed the sets and costumes for the silent film L'Atlantide and illustrated many promotional posters.
Orazi contributed to publications such as anarchist satirical magazine L'Assiette au Beurre, Femina, Scribner's Magazine, Je sais tout and Les Maîtres de l'Affiche.