Books and Manuscripts

Iannelli, Alfonso
Original Poster Illustration
(Los Angeles, ca. 1915). Ink and gouache on paper. Signed by Iannelli, bottom center. Laid down onto board. Approximately 37 x 27 in. (940 x 686 mm) (sight). Lightly toned; scattered minor soiling. In frame, 48 x 37 1/2 in. (1219 x 952 mm).

A striking original poster illustration created by sculptor Alfonso Iannelli early in his career to promote a performance by English shadowgraphists, Mr. and Mrs. Gordon Wilde, at the famed Orpheum Theatre in Los Angeles.

Iannelli was hired by the theater in 1912 to create lobby posters for the venue's various acts and vaudeville performances. Over the next three years he created over a hundred posters and developed a unique modernist visual language. His work for the theater drew the attention of Frank Lloyd Wright’s son John, who introduced his father to Iannelli, leading to a collaboration on a series of sculptures for Wright’s Midway Gardens in Chicago.

Provenance
Collection of Alan I. and Dianne Kay, Bethesda, Maryland
The Estate of Alan I. and Dianne Kay, Bethesda, Maryland