Cappiello is one of the artists who makes us wish modern advertising was still pasted onto buildings at enormous scale.
Born in Livorno in 1875 and established in Paris around the turn of the century, Leonetto Cappiello arrived just after the generation of Chéret and Toulouse-Lautrec. Rather than filling a poster with detail, he increasingly did the opposite: one strange, funny or exaggerated figure, a dark or simple background and a brand name you could read while moving past it.
A Character Could Do the Work
That sounds straightforward now, but the effect was a major shift. The product did not always need to dominate the picture. A memorable character could do the work instead — the green devil of Maurin Quina, the fire-breathing figure associated with Thermogène, or the extraordinary elephant used for Le Nil. Once you have seen them, they are difficult to confuse with anything else.
We have handled quite a lot of Cappiello over the years and it is an area we genuinely love. The scale helps. Many originals are huge, beautifully printed lithographs that feel completely different in person from seeing the same image reduced to a phone screen.
There is also more variety than the famous liquor posters suggest. Food, drink, fashion, medicine, tobacco and transport all appear across his commercial work. Following Cappiello is almost a way of following European advertising itself through the first part of the twentieth century.
Poster Spotlight
Je ne Fume que le Nil - Cappiello
The extraordinary elephant used to sell Le Nil cigarette papers — one of Cappiello's most instantly recognisable characters.
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Campari Soda - Vince La Sete
A later, more streamlined Campari design, showing how Cappiello's single-character approach carried into the mid-century.
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Le Thermogene
The fire-breathing figure created for Thermogène, a good example of a memorable character built to work at a glance.
View PosterA Note for Collectors
Cappiello’s designs have been reprinted and reissued in many forms. Check the actual printing date, printer, dimensions and purpose of the sheet. A later official printing can still be collectible, but it should never be quietly presented as the original early issue.
Original poster or later reproduction?
Cappiello’s advertising imagery has been reissued decoratively many times over the past century. Printer credits, paper and dimensions consistent with the stated period all matter — see our authenticity guide.
Explore More
Browse our Leonetto Cappiello collection and Food & Drink posters, or continue with Jules Chéret and our Poster History guide.
Original Posters by Leonetto Cappiello
A live look at Leonetto Cappiello posters currently in the Printed Originals collection.
