Vintage Poster Archives
Cappiello Salon des Humoristes 1922 | Paris Exhibition
Cappiello Salon des Humoristes 1922 | Paris Exhibition
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A caricaturist sits on a wooden stool with two crossed pens balanced on his enormous beak-like nose and a red-and-teal macaw settled in his lap. The figure, wild dark-tipped hair, cadmium-orange skin, white scarf loose around the neck, fills the centre of the composition, framed by deep crimson curtain panels on each side. Behind him, a tilted canvas carries the exhibition details in Cappiello's characteristically bold, informal hand-lettering.
Designed by Leonetto Cappiello in 1922 for the Salon des Humoristes, the annual Paris exhibition of caricaturists and humorous draughtsmen held at the Galerie La Boétie, 64bis rue La Boétie. Cappiello (1875–1942), born in Livorno and settled in Paris from the late 1890s, was a founding committee member of the Société des dessinateurs humoristes and a contributor to the satirical journals, Le Rire, L'Assiette au Beurre, that fed the salon's milieu. By 1922 he was at the height of his advertising practice, working under the imprint of Les Nouvelles Affiches Cappiello, the company he co-founded with Devambez in 1921, whose printer's credit appears in the lower left margin.
The design works on two levels. As a vintage advertising poster it does everything Cappiello's best work does: a single, arresting figure, a bold colour contrast, an economy of visual information. As a document of a particular Parisian cultural world, it places the advertiser and the advertised in the same frame: the caricaturist, advertising caricaturists, playing the role of caricaturist.
Reproduced on 200gsm Enhanced Matte Fine Art Paper with pigment-based archival inks. Well-suited to a study, a dining room, or any wall that benefits from a confident line and a sense of humour.
