Date: 1914 (original, larger sized poster printed in 1901)
Size: 10.25 x 14 inches, image: 7.5 x 10.75 inches
Artist: Leonetto Cappiello
About the artist: Leonetto Cappiello (1875–1942) didn't just design posters—he invented the rules of modern advertising. Before Cappiello, posters were dominated by the complex, highly detailed Art Nouveau style of artists like Alphonse Mucha and Jules Chéret. Cappiello realized that the fast-paced, industrial 20th-century street required a completely new visual language to capture a passerby's attention in a split second.
About this piece: This beautiful poster belongs to the Portfolio "Gli Avvisi delle Officine G. Ricordi e C. Milano" (The Advertisements of the G. Ricordi & Co. Graphics Works, Milan) a famous and rare collection published around 1914, inspired by the famous French publication Les Maîtres de l'Affiche. The complete collection contains 70 color lithographic plates (chromolithographs) in a reduced size format. It represents an extraordinary testament to the golden age of the Italian advertising poster and Art Nouveau (Liberty style) graphics, closely tied to the world of opera and the Ricordi music publishing house.
This poster is the official promotional poster for the 1901 summer bathing season (Luglio, Agosto, Settembre) in Livorno, which concurrent hosted major wine, photography, and decorative art expositions alongside regattas and horse races.
