DATE: 12/29/2012 | BY CORY REYNOLDS

A Toast to a New Way of Living: Italian Advertising Posters from the early 20th Century

Irony, Imagination and Eroticism in Advertising 1895-1960: The title of this delectable collection of early 20th century Italian posters says it all.
In the closing decade of the nineteenth century, the modern age invaded the city streets of Italy in the form of advertising posters. Bouquets of monkeys, elephants, masks, automobiles and elegantly--and sometimes scantily--clad ladies suddenly blossomed upon walls everywhere, indoors and out, visually grabbing the attention of an Italian public interested in the new commercial products that promised a new way of living. These advertisements were executed by some of the greatest illustrators of the day--Leonetto Cappiello, Achille Lucien Mauzan, Marcello Dudovich, Plinio Codognato, Leopoldo Metlicovitz and Gino Boccasile--who together produced a medley of playful, allusive, ironic and experimental imagery unmatched by any other European or American posters of that era. Featured image is Mario Vellani Marchi's 1922 poster for Vermouth Bianco S.O.V. Bitter: an appropriate image to toast the new year.