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cappiello poster history
Leonetto Cappiello
the father of modern advertising
Born in Livorno, Italy, Cappiello (1875-1942) first gained fame
as a caricaturist in Paris in 1898. He went on to become
one of the most successful and prolific poster artists of all time,
producing more than 1000 designs over a forty-year career. He rejected
the fussy detail of Art Nouveau in favor of simple metaphors for products.
This innovation ushered in a new era in commercial art and earned him
the title of "the father of modern advertising."
Taking the simplicity and energy of Cheret
and the caricature of Toulouse-Lautrec as his stylistic models, he created
irresistible, often humorous or bizarre, images that
could be absorbed in a second and remembered for a lifetime.
Always bold, he wrote that "Surprise
is the foundation of advertising; it is its necessary condition."
His famous 1906 poster of a mischievous
green devil typifies the "Cappiello style" that would
dominate Parisian poster art until Cassandre’s first Art Deco poster
in 1923.
Though
Cappiello spent most of his career in Paris, the posters he produced
for Italian clients are among his rarest and best. The four posters
Cappiello created for the Naples department store Mele, including the
exuberant 1904 "Novita per Signora" ("New Fashions for
Women") at left, are exceptionally rare and beautiful designs.
Among other posters Cappiello created for Italian clients, one of the
most beloved is his 1921 image of a gleeful jester with an orange peel
enjoying a bottle of Bitter Campari.
One of Cappiello's last posters, created in 1938
for the Mossant hat company, is one of his most delightful images and
a perfect illustration of his artistic philosophy. We
are very fortunate that an unused cache of this poster was found in
a warehouse in Paris many years ago. With
the simple tip of three hats, the viewer is reminded of everything a
hat can represent: a feeling of welcome, gentility, and savoir faire.
Thanks to Cappiello, convivial elegance became intimately associated
with the name Mossant.
Cappiello’s remarkable inventiveness
inspired numerous other artists in many different countries. His caricature-based
style strongly influenced Achille Mauzan in Italy and Jean D’Ylen
in Paris, while his innovative advertising concept can be seen in artists
as diverse as Federico Seneca and Sepo in Italy to Herbert Leupin and
Donald Brun in Switzerland. It is little wonder
that Cappiello is acclaimed as the greatest product poster artist of
all time.
Cappiello
Mossant, 1938
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Cappiello
Maurin Quina, c.1906
Cappiello
Mele & Co. Magazzini Italiani, 1904
Cappiello
Bitter Campari, 1921
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