Umberto Brunelleschi: The Set Designer Who Captivated Puccini
Umberto Brunelleschi (1879-1949), a Tuscan painter and set designer, rose to fame in Belle Époque Paris. He began his career as an illustrator for magazines like Le Rire and L'Assiette au beurre under the pseudonym Aroun al Raxid. In 1912, he debuted as a set designer with the ballet Légende du clair de lune. He regularly exhibited at the Venice Biennale from 1914 to 1938. In 1924, Giacomo Puccini requested Brunelleschi to design costumes for Turandot, but they were not ready for the La Scala premiere. However, Brunelleschi's costumes were used at the Teatro Costanzi in Rome on April 26, 1926, to great success. A major retrospective curated by Giuliano Ercoli was held in Parma in 1989, and Ercoli published a monograph on Brunelleschi in 2011.
Key facts
- Umberto Brunelleschi was born in Montemurlo, Italy in 1879 and died in Paris in 1949.
- He studied at the Accademia di Belle Arti di Firenze under Raffaello Sorbi and Giuseppe Cianfani.
- He moved to Paris in 1900 with Ardengo Soffici and Giovanni Costetti.
- He used the pseudonym Aroun al Raxid for his illustrations.
- He created successful characters Frugolino and Coccoletta for Corriere dei Piccoli.
- He founded the magazine La Guirlande and designed for Folies Bergère, Casino, Mogador, and Marigny.
- Giacomo Puccini personally requested Brunelleschi to design costumes for Turandot.
- Brunelleschi's costumes for Turandot debuted at the Teatro Costanzi in Rome on April 26, 1926.
Entities
Artists
- Umberto Brunelleschi
- Filippo Brunelleschi
- Raffaello Sorbi
- Giuseppe Cianfani
- Ardengo Soffici
- Giovanni Costetti
- Amedeo Modigliani
- Pablo Picasso
- Gabriele D'Annunzio
- André Derain
- Ida Rubinstein
- Giacomo Puccini
- Caramba
- Giuliano Ercoli
- Baccio Maria Bacci
- Ludovico Pratesi
Institutions
- Accademia di Belle Arti di Firenze
- Le Rire
- Le Frou-frou
- L'Assiette au beurre
- Salon des Indépendants
- Giornalino della Domenica
- Corriere dei Piccoli
- Les bouffes parisiens
- Biennale di Venezia
- Il Numero
- La Tradotta
- Terza Armata
- La Guirlande
- Folies Bergère
- Casino
- Mogador
- Marigny
- Fiat
- Van Houten
- Teatro alla Scala
- Teatro Costanzi
- Galleria del Laocoonte
- Gonnelli
- Artribune
Locations
- Montemurlo
- Italy
- Paris
- France
- Florence
- Montmartre
- rue Boissonade
- Pistoia
- Parma
- Rome
- Venice