Leonetto Cappiello Posters & Prints

Stock cubes and tyres might sound like an unpromising brief. Leonetto Cappiello gave them chefs, devils and colours you could spot across the street.

Digitally restored reproductions from £19.99, printed on 200gsm Enhanced Matte Fine Art Paper with pigment inks. Printed locally and shipped from the UK, US and Canada. Supplied unframed.

1920s Vermouth Cora Torino advertising poster, red winged devil holding amber bottle, crimson ground, Cappiello | The Vintage Poster Archives

The Cappiello posters here move from Bouillon Kub and Torrilhon to Chocolat Klaus, Maurin Quina, Italian fashion and Paris entertainment. Watch how often a single figure carries the whole picture. There’s humour in it, and an almost indecent amount of confidence. Beautifully drawn, with a wicked grin.

One artist, a remarkable range of customers

Look through Cappiello’s advertising and the ordinary world becomes rather less ordinary. A food brand gets a character you remember. A bottle becomes the centre of a small drama. Clothing, tyres and lamps receive the same lively attention as a theatre performance. The products change; the appetite for a striking image runs through them.

The collection lets you follow that approach across different subjects. Bouillon Kub puts the chef to work for the kitchen. Torrilhon makes tyres theatrical. Chocolat Klaus gives chocolate its own visual energy, while the Mele Napoli designs turn the business of getting dressed into a spectacle. These are useful starting points if you know the artist’s name but haven’t yet found the particular Cappiello print for your wall.

Look at the space around the figure

Try covering the lettering for a moment. Does the character still hold your attention? Then look at how the name and image work together. A large figure against a clear background can read instantly from the far side of a room; a more detailed composition invites you closer. Cappiello’s pictures are worth enjoying at both distances.

When putting two prints together, you could follow a shared subject, such as food or aperitifs. You could also pair different subjects through a repeated colour or the direction of a figure’s movement. A chef and a devil can be surprisingly good company. Matching every detail would rather miss the spirit of it.

A closer look at Cappiello

Read the guide to Leonetto Cappiello for the longer story. The wider advertising poster collection puts his work alongside other artists, and Food & Drink offers more kitchen and aperitif company.