Perfume
by Metlicovitz
Fleur de Mousse
A nude bather ecstatically enjoys the smell of Fleurs de Mousse perfume.In one of the finest works by the prolific Metlicovitz, a French perfume is advertised with a nude sylph in a reverent pose, enraptured with the fragrance from a small vial which is so potent that the artist imagines that it attracts even butterflies. How could a woman resist such an appealing message? This is a subsequent edition of the image, printed by the Moullot firm of Marseilles. Metlicovitz was born in the Adriatic port city of Trieste, and appears to have become a painter and portraitist without any formal training. In 1891, he showed up in Milan at Ricordi's print shop as a lithography trainee, proving to be such a quick study he was promoted to technical director within a year.