Amalia Russiello is an italian illustrator and creative mind behind Madame Dabi.
After graduating in History of Arts at the University of Naples Federico II, she decided to dedicate herself completely to illustration.
Her delicate and feminine work is influenced by vintage Boudoir atmosphere, 20s Paris and Venetian Rococo creating a world not only of nostalgic charm and beauty but an intimate place where women can express themselves with softness and without any restrictions from society.
Amalia uses classic techniques such as pencil drawing and soft pastels with colored pencils, this technique is often mixed with digital mediums especially for collaborations like logo design, book covers, textile design and packaging.
Amalia favorite quote is: "The hardest thing is the decision to act, the rest is sheer persistence" – Amelia Earhart
Amalia’s work has been featured in:
AS IS | Amalia Russiello on ARV 2024
Amalia Russiello on HOUSE OF THEODORA 2022
“Raffinato erotismo saffico ispirato alla vita libertina degli anni ’20: intervista a Madame Dabi” on PICAME 2021
“6 international erotic artists discuss freedom, kink, and censorship online” on DAZED 2020
“Plasir des sens” on COSMOPOLITAN 2018
Amalia Russiello is one of the very few boudoir artists of our time.
By boudoir art we mean a real art form that began in the early 1900s that focuses on and celebrates female beauty in all its forms. In Paris from 1910s Boudoir Art was at the height of its popularity so much so that it invested fashion and newspapers used illustrators who took care of advertising new products and clothes. The women of the new century were very different, with different needs and ambitions for this they needed role models who represented their new needs. At the beginning of the century movements for women's rights were born, women who loudly claimed equality with men in every area of social life and precisely these chic Parisian women of the beginning of the century became an example for the entire world: the flappers.
This new provocative and chic woman represents a break with the canons of the past, perfectly representing the new needs of an entire world of women freed from the restrictions of the Victorian era: in Boudoir Art were represented women who smoked in public, for the first time in history with hair a la garçonne, dresses with deep necklines, they danced bare-legged and chose their lovers only for their pleasure.
The women of Boudoir Art of the beginning of the century do not represent ideals far from those of real women of the beginning of the century, they were real women and for this reason they were admired by women from all over the world on the pages of glossy magazines, in advertising and in the cinema. For the first time women felt represented.
This is precisely the Boudoir Art that Madame Dabi Boudoir wants to reclaim: a representation of modern and free women.
THE BOUDOIR ART