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| Artist, G. Mora, 1894 Published on Compari.com site. |
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I have always had a fascination with Italian poster art that
specifically promoted food and drink. This week studying the works of Adolfo
Hohenstein, the “father of poster design” in Italy, was a visual feast.
Hohenstein and his contemporaries, Leopoldo Meticovitz and Leonetto Capiello
designed posters for the Campari Company in Italy.
These artists brought the energy and form of Art Nouveau
to
Campari. Compari had already been in business for years. Prior to this era,
other artists started the poster tradition. G. Mora created the first poster
for advertising in 1894.
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Artist, Leonetto Cappiello, 1921,
Published on leonettocappielloposters.com |
Leonetto Cappiello started out as a caricature artist and in
1904 he abandoned caricature to devote himself to poster art. Campari has
retained that visual edge first introduced in Adolfo Hohenstein’s work. Moving
through the times, they employed artists to carry on the poster tradition in
the current artistic style of the time.
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| Artist, Fortunato Depero, 1925, posted on Campari.com |
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| CorreColTempo Artist, Fortunato Depero, |
Other Campari artists include Milton Glaser and Fortunato Depero.
Depero was part of the futurism movement
and he applied his style to advertising and graphic design as seen in his
poster for Campari
Squisito al Seltz,1926.
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| Artist: Ugo Nespolo, 1990 |
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While incorporating photography into its advertising, Campari
has retained its deep graphic art roots.
Campari Art Label Project was started
as a way to keep the connection to art. This year the company has issued a
‘limited edition’ bottle featuring artwork by contemporary Italian pop artist
and set designer, Ugo Nespolo. Nespolo pays homage to Leonetto Cappiello’s
poster,
Spiritello by incorporating the same energy, focal point and
gesture as in the original art. The Spiritello character is still wrapped up in an orange peal, yet he floats in a busy sea of color. This limited edition label is intended
to celebrate the Campari love of art.
Since posters were physically more accessible for viewing than fine art,
they became the defacto ‘art for the masses’. The visual vernacular persists
today.
Cheap reprints are available on
the internet and are used primarily as decoration in cafes, restaurants and
homes.
The Campari
web site gallery is
worth a look
With any luck, I hope to someday visit the real gallery at the Compari headquarters in Milan, Italy.
Sources:
http://www.princeton.edu/~achaney/tmve/wiki100k/docs/Ugo_Nespolo.html
http://www.camparigroup.com/en/press-media/brands-history/campari.shtml
http://www.camparigroup.com/en/press-media/multimedia-kit/spirits/downloads-campari.shtml
http://www.leonettocappielloposters.com/showproduct.aspx?pid=457571
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