Leonetto CAPPIELLO (1875-1942) Asti Cinzano, 1919 Mixed media. Mounted on canvas. Signed center left. Numbered 5087 upper right. Shipping label on back. (Tears, one 7 cm at bottom. Creases top left. Holes at bottom left. Rubbing). 187 x 116.5 cm Bibliography : Rennert, p. 198, no. 300. Without doubt the most breathtaking image in this sale, with an impressive freedom of conception and execution. Not entirely by chance... Cappiello worked for a large number of Italian wine, aperitif and liqueur brands. His posters are of uneven quality, as are the relationships he must have had with his clients: those who wanted Cappiello, without taking the slightest creative risk, and those who, on the contrary, encouraged him. Cinzano was one of the latter, as was Campari(1). In 1910, he created the zebra for the brand, which would be used for decades. Jacques Vienot notes, "Cinzano is not only a milestone in Cappiello's career, it's a milestone in the history of poster art" (p. 61). We sense the artist's freedom and pleasure in composing what, beyond the arabesque, is a decorative fresco: the two bunches of grapes in which the young woman, in unstable balance, leans. Her incredible yellow veils and improbable interlacing reinforce the movement. Quite simply, a masterpiece! Pierre Guégen chose to reproduce this model in his article on Cappiello in Arts et Métiers graphiques, January 15, 1934, p. 10, no. 39. (1) See the clown wrapped in an orange peel for Bitter Campari (Rennert, p. 214, n° 330). The brand also employed the best Italian artists, including the Futurists. (Rennert, p. 214-215, n° 330-333).