Emmanuel "Manuel" Orazi was born in Italy in 1860 and worked in Paris creating graphic art. There's not a lot of information on the internet (that I've found so far) but there are some bits of info I have gleaned...
In 1892 Orazi moved to Paris and established himself as an artist working in the Art Nouveau style. He created newspaper illustrations, advertisements and book illustrations.
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| Advertisement for Job cigarette papers by Orazi. |
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| Book illustration for "The wonderful adventures of Huon of Bordeaux" |
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| "Ophelia" illustration by Orazi |
A few years later in 1896, Orazi was commissioned to create an advertisement for the gallery Maison de l’Art Nouveau (House of New Art) in Paris. This gallery (started by Samuel Bing) showcased a collection of modern artworks. Artists were invited to display their pieces in the "new style" of art nouveau. This launched him into being recognized at the time.
One of Orazi's most interesting projects was in 1895 when he created an occult-themed calendar, the "Calendrier Magique," (which was a spoof of religious calendars of the time). He collaborated with author, Austin De Croz, and only 777 editions were produced. The double-paged calendar was intended to be a parody exploring 1895 as "the year of magic." The illustrations are eerie, dark, campy and with a flair for the unusual.
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| "Black Mass", 1903 illustration for satire magazine, "L'Assiette au beurre," depicting literary figures, Lord Alfred Douglas, Oscar Wilde, Maurice Maeterlinck and Marcel Proust. |
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| "La belle sans nom" (The pretty girl without a name). Painting by Manuel Orazi illustrating a literary work by Jean Rameau. From Figaro Illustré, 1900. |
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| La Maison Moderne advertisement (1902) |
Orazi, in addition to being a talented poster artist, also designed hair combs. In his poster for La Maison Moderne (1902) you can see the unique hair comb design.
These images (above) from a 1902 book show designs of haircombs and hatpins/hairpins that Orazi (sometimes credited as "Orazzi") created.
Later in life Orazi was in charge of making set designs and costume designs for the 1921 French-Belgian silent film, "L'Atlantide". In addition to painting and designing sets, Orazi also designed posters promoting the movie (which can be seen above).
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| Poster for "L'Hippodrome" at the boulevard de Clichy, Paris, France (c. 1900). |
I first came across Orazi's work for "L'Hippodrome," which I thought was incredibly detailed. One of the things I noticed about Orazi's art was his unique style when painting jewelry or costumes. His artwork tends to radiate a fantastical style and sometimes I see a bit of surrealism in his works too.
