Like a lot of people, I don't always know an artist by name. I know them by their art and THEN I figure out who they are. That's the same story with today's featured artist, Leonetto Cappiello. I actually have several of his posters (reprints, of course) in my office/art room because I love the vibrant colors he uses.
He has a very distinct, scrolly signature, and that's actually how I found him! You can always identify a Cappiello poster by that signature.
This is the first Cappiello I remember noticing. It's a very famous print and since I've become familiar with his stuff, I've seen this guy everywhere!
So who was Cappiello? Well, I did a little digging and found out a few things about him:
* He is often called "the father of modern advertising".
* He was the first artist to move away from the pale colored backgrounds of his day and use black for a background, which is what makes the colors pop like they do.
* He had no formal training. He started out as a caricaturist and eventually moved away from caricatures to the advertizing circuit.
* He was born in Italy in 1875 & died in France in 1942.
I've acutally never seen this one before, but I think I need to find it... It's lovely!
I have this one too!
Anyway, I could post pics all day, there's a TON of them on the internet. I'm very inspired by his work and also his innovation back in his day. I like it when people stretch their abilities outside the box and beyond what is the "going thing" at the time. Go check him out!
***Jess
