AVERY LOZADA | DATE 12/25/2012

A Web of Seduction: Irony, Imagination and Eroticism in Italian Advertising Posters, 1895-1960

Italian posters from the early twentieth century are highly collectible. Why? Because they are scarce: Mussolini's Fascist Party destroyed a huge number of them because they reflected "bourgeois values." Later, of course, fascist-era posters were destroyed at the end of World War II. And then, incredibly, the largest remaining collection of classic Italian posters were destroyed in the late 60s, when the famed printer Ricordi threw out its archives to free up warehouse space, keeping only one copy of each poster. Posters: Irony, Imagination and Eroticism in Advertising 1895-1960 features Italian advertising posters from Art Nouveau and Art Deco styles through Futurism, World War 2 and the 1950s, with ads for everything from liquor, soap and candy to bicycles and tires. Featured image is Gino Boccasile’s 1950s poster, "A Web of Seduction," for Calze Fer.