Emanuele Luzzati, 85, Oscar-Nominated Animator
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Italian artist Emanuele Luzzati, a set designer and Oscar-nominated director of animated films, died Friday at his home in Genoa. He was 85.
Luzzati designed set and costumes for stage productions and operas, including for Milan’s La Scala and England’s Glyndebourne Festival. In 1963, he designed the set for Mozart’s “The Magic Flute.” Fifteen years later, he turned the opera into a cartoon that remains one of his most famous works.
But it was with two other animated films that he won Oscar nominations: Rossini’s “The Thieving Magpie” (1964) and “Pulcinella” (1973).
Born into a Jewish family, Luzzati moved to Switzerland after Mussolini’s Fascist regime passed racial laws in 1938. He attended the School of Fine Arts in Lausanne.
After World War II he returned to Italy and began professional work as a set designer in Milan. In 1972, he exhibited at the Venice Biennale, while in 1993 an exhibition dedicated to his work as set designer was held at the Pompidou Center museum of contemporary art in Paris.
A versatile artist, Luzzati did illustrations for children’s books, decorations for cruise ships, as well as paintings and sculptures.
