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Leonetto Cappiello
Katabexine

1903

About the Item

CAPPIELLO, LEONETTO (1875 - 1942) "Katabexine" Lithograph in color, linen-backed c. 1903 Sheet size: 54.25” x 39” Cap./GP, 252; Cap/StV, 4.22; DFP-II, 118; Schardt, pp. 174-5; PAI-VII, 63 Stamp: Republique Francais, lower center Stamp: Lyon, upper center Vercasson, Paris Colors fresh Cappiello’s era signals both the culmination of the belle époque and the beginning of its end. He distilled some of the best elements of the past – the caricature approach of Guillaume or Barrere, the simple lines and flat colors of the British school, and a way of making the lettering an integral part of the design which had been practiced by posterists from Cheret to Pal. But in synthesizing them, he came up with something that denied, surpassed, and eventually destroyed the past: simplification that obliterated all the elaborate ornamentation of art nouveau, clarity of vision that obviated the necessity for painstaking details of the pictorial style, and single-mindedness of purpose that eliminated the need for allegorical allusions and mythological references. Cappiello’s posters are there to sell, and they do it by attracting attention to the advertised product. Cappiello used mostly women as his subjects – but they are purely two-dimensional beings, with no pretense to fleshand-blood sensuality. They represent feminine allure but do not possess it themselves; it is a synthetic attraction, but it is all the more effective because it does not depend on an individual’s reaction to a specific face or figure. A Cappiello woman does not remind us of any particular person; she is woman, and what attracts us is the bold and blazen way in which she insinuates herself into our consciousness. Cappiello had the temerity to try to sell a product which he doesn’t show by the image of a woman with no discernible facial features riding a horse, which, being bright red, is obviously not of this world. The fact that it worked spectacularly well started a whole new trend in posters, and in advertising in general: Cappiello became the father of modern advertising. Today, concepts like surrealism, abstraction and synthesis are old hat. We must remember, however, that in the era of Victorian conservatism, his flight of fancy must have been like a fresh breeze or perhaps a hurricane that swept up all the old-fashioned ideas into a sorry heap. The old new art is dead – long live the new new art! - Jack Rennert
  • Creator:
    Leonetto Cappiello (1875 - 1942, French)
  • Creation Year:
    1903
  • Dimensions:
    Height: 62 in (157.48 cm)Width: 46 in (116.84 cm)Depth: 1.5 in (3.81 cm)
  • More Editions & Sizes:
    Unknown EditionPrice: $19,500
  • Medium:
  • Movement & Style:
  • Period:
  • Condition:
    There is a small chip on the frame's upper left hand corner.
  • Gallery Location:
    Hinsdale, IL
  • Reference Number:
    Seller: 18181stDibs: LU138427150242
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