Manuel Orazi (1860-1934), Pair of Istanbul landscapes, XNUMXth century

Very beautiful pair of oil on canvas representing Yeni cami (new mosque) from two different angles, located in the Eminonu district, it is adjacent to the Egyptian bazaar also known as the spice bazaar. Construction was begun in 1597 under the direction of a student of Sinan and at the request of Sultana Safiyé, then abandoned. Construction was resumed by the imperial architect Mustafa Aga in 1661, at the request of Valide Sultana Hatice Turhan (mother of Sultan Mehmet IV), and finally completed in 1663.

Emmanuel Joseph Raphaël Orazi, known as Manuel Orazi, was born in Rome on October 5, 1860 and died on October 28, 1934 in Paris. Painter, illustrator, poster designer and decorator, the life of this artist remains quite mysterious but we recognize his great activity. It is generally associated with the Art Nouveau style.

After illustrating musical scores for the Officine Grafiche Ricordi (1883-1884), he created numerous remarkable posters from 1884 in France, as well as illustrations for books, sets for opera and cinema The Alantide, and even jewelry for House of Art Nouveau, an exhibition-sale place opened in 1884 by Siegfried Bing in a former hotel in XVIIIcentury, located at 19 Rue Chauchat in the 9th arrondissement of Paris.

He will create posters for the JOB brands, the Contrexéville source, the Western Railways, the Maison Moderne, the French Wine League, Pierre Lafitte editions; for performance venues and artists such as the Hippodrome du boulevard Clichy, the Olympia, the Palais de la Danse, the Théatre de Loïe Fuller, the Théatre de la Porte-Saint-Martin, Sarah Bernhardt, Teddy-Ted & Partner …. Moreover, his poster for the drama by Victorien Sardou, Theodora, was a great success and will be reproduced in the magazine The Masters of the Poster (1895-1900).

At the end of 1895, he produced with Austin de Croze the curious and famous Magic Calendar published by Éditions de l'Art Nouveau directed by Siegfried Bing, a work printed in 777 copies including numerous graphic plates on esoteric subjects. As a book artist, he will collaborate with the Figaro iIllustrated Nameless Beauty by Jean Rameau in 1900, and also at the Revue Illustrée for the tales of Jean Lorrain (1898-1900) who, greatly appreciating it, introduced it to Jérôme Doucet (1865-1957), writer, collector, bibliophile and journalist Frenchman who was the author of numerous comedies, poems, stories, also books for young people and works of art. Manuel Orazi will continue his work as an illustrator for other publishing houses such as Dido Frères, Paul Ollendorff, P.Lafitte & Compagnie, Fayard, and E. Sansot & Cie and for many world-renowned writers such as 'Oscar Wilde, Charles Beaudelaire, Pierre Loti…

During the First World War, Manuel Orazi left Paris and took refuge in Montgivray. He then worked on a publishing and theatrical adaptation project The loves of the AngelsIrish poet Thomas Moore (1779-1852). In 1915, he published a script entitled Attila, cinematographic scenario in 22 scenes.

In 1921, he created a set of five posters for the film Atlantis by Jacques Feyder (1885-1948). The director will also entrust him with the creation of the sets and costumes. Filmed entirely in Algeria, Manuel Orazi will be responsible for supervising the work. It is very likely that the two paintings we are offering date from this period, Manuel Orazi having lived in the region throughout the filming.

Many posters are kept in different museums, at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Museum of Art in New York, the Department of Prints and Photography of the National Library of France and the Carnavalet Museum in Paris.