Olivetti
Artist
Milton Glaser
United States, 1929 - 2020
Date1977
Dimensions26 3/4 x 18 3/4 in. (67.9 x 47.6 cm)
ClassificationsPoster
Credit LinePoster House Permanent Collection
Object numberPH.6653
DescriptionThis poster advertises Mario Bellini’s Lexicon 83DL model, the first portable typewriter to use a pivoting-typeball mechanism—an element that Milton Glaser dramatically highlights in the guise of a moonlike sphere glowing over a stylized wooded landscape. While Glaser was studying in Italy, he fell in love with the work of the Italian masters. He noted that the staircase in the foreground of this composition references Raphael’s School of Athens (c. 1509), while the background draws on elements from Leonardo da Vinci’s Annunciation (c. 1472) and Fra Angelico’s Annunciation of Cortona (c. 1433). Glaser also cited Titian as an influence but we have not yet been able to identify a specific work. On View
Not on view
