SVA Archives

Henry Wolf Collection: Series 2. Advertisement for Olivetti Studio 45 featuring Twiggy, ca. 1969.

April 04, 2014

Henry Wolf for Olivetti

In the late-1960s Henry Wolf produced a number of advertisements for Olivetti, which touched on two of his favorite devices: the use of celebrity and the distortions of scale and context used to dreamlike effect.

For the Studio 45, Wolf recruited an unusual roster of endorsers: Twiggy (then in her last year of modeling), along with Duke Ellington, and gossip columnist Suzy Knickerbocker.

Photo of an elegant rich smiling woman laying on a fancy bed in a posh bedroom, talking on the phone. A teal typewriter is visible in the foreground on a table

Henry Wolf Collection: Series 2. Advertisement for Olivetti Studio 45 featuring Suzy Knickerbocker, ca. 1969.

An old man in a bright blue suit ,near a microphone with music sheets in the background. holding a teal typewriter and hold a cigarette in his other hand. The typewriter has a music sheet set in place.

Henry Wolf Collection: Series 11. “Duke Ellington at the Keys.” Original photograph for Olivetti Studio 45 ad, ca. 1969.

Ellington appears to be preparing to type on staff paper, albeit with normal keys. (But the Studio 45, like its smaller and more celebrated sister product, the Lettera 22, uses the lowercase “L” for the numeral 1.)

A photo of a woman in white looking at images in a gallery show; all are enlarged photos of different models of typewriters

Henry Wolf Collection: Series 2. Advertisement for Olivetti typewriters, ca. 1969.

Ads for the whole product line emphasized the artistry of their industrial design.

A model of a white room in a dark space, it's filled with tiny furniture but an oversized white typewriter takes up most of the space.

Henry Wolf Collection: Series 11. Photograph, ca. 1969.

For Ettore Sottsass’ Valentine, Wolf contributed a somewhat coquettish two-page tease highlighting the typewriter’s unique carrying case design.

Posters of a photo of a red typewriter The first is the typewriter in it's case with a black small text above it reading, "What is it?" In the following poster the red typewriter is positioned near its matching carrying case against a seamless white background. Above there is a black bold text reading,"Sorry, time's up! It's the "Valentine"

Henry Wolf Collection: Series 2. Magazine advertisement for Valentine typewriter, ca. 1969.