Contratto 1922

Editor: This is Leonetto Cappiello's poster, "Contratto," created in 1922. The Art Nouveau styling gives it an immediate visual impact. What I find striking is the woman carrying what looks like an enormous glass of sparkling wine. It makes me wonder what story Cappiello wanted to tell. What do you see when you look at this piece? Curator: Considering Cappiello's posters, we must focus on his lithographic process and the specific choices he made in representing the commodity, in this case, Contratto sparkling wine. The female figure, a familiar trope in advertising, isn't just floating there. She's working. The gesture of holding up the oversized glass, nearly spilling the precious liquid, is one of exertion, one of *labor*. It emphasizes the sheer volume of product being sold. Editor: So, you're saying the artistic choices serve a purpose in highlighting the product itself? Curator: Precisely! Look at the rendering of the bubbles; how much pigment and work goes into replicating such lavish overflow? What is this image's impact on printing techniques and the role of the artist as essentially a manual laborer executing commercial desires? It's not just pretty, it's calculated and reliant on industry and class structures, blurring the lines between commercial and artistic skill. Editor: That definitely shifts my perspective. It makes me think about the cost and effort that went into creating the *poster* as a commodity. Curator: Exactly! And how it then went on to impact society as both art, advertising, and commodity itself. We see the layers of production and labor behind even what might seem a simple image. Editor: I had never considered posters this way before. I usually see them as, well, just art, but you are right. Now I realize that it actually shows a very important aspect of materialist culture that's rarely looked at in advertising.