Posters: Speed in Italian Advertising 1890–1955

Posters: Speed in Italian Advertising 1890–1955 collects the graphic evidence of a fundamental truth of the early 20th century: Europe found itself moving, all of a sudden, at a new speed. Modernity was aggressive, self-assured and fast. In Italy, a riot of posters and advertisements trumpeted steamships, locomotives, airplanes and unimaginably fast communication over long distances. The undisputed protagonist of this acceleration was the automobile, the “vehement god of a race of steel” (as Filippo Marinetti put it), celebrated in both popular and “high” culture.
The latest in Silvana’s series on the golden age of Italian poster design, Speed in Italian Advertising brings together a substantial collection of Italian posters related to the automobile, bearing witness to the explosion of new forms, new objects and new customs it offered to enthusiastic consumers and anxious observers alike.