135

Bruno Munari

1907-1998

Campari. Billboard poster. 1964.

Condition B / B+: large replaced losses in lower right corner and along right side of the upper edge; extensive repaired tears, restored losses and overpainting in image and margins. Four-sheets.

Rare. We have not found any other copies at auction.

What appears to be merely a compilation of past Campari logos, set on a red background (to evoke the shade of the famous aperitif), is even more so an exemplification of the genius of Munari's design ethos. A typographic and visual masterpiece, the billboard was designed for the opening of the M1 "Red line" of the Milan Metro, and it was displayed across the train platforms. The official title of the poster in English is "Graphic Variation of the Name Campari;" it was the first advertising poster to be affixed along the underground platforms, thus representing an innovative symbol of the historic brand's profound ties to the city's dynamism."

With this project, "Munari set himself an ingenious open-ended objective. The goal was to create a graphical combination of letters which could be repeated an infinite number of times and never lose their semantic essence. In fact, the poster was printed in a single format, but it could be posted side by side in a continuous flow without ever lacking in cognitive cohesion" (Serena Spinelli, Campari Gallery, Art Journal #14). 

"The direction of the letters matched the direction of the train along the tracks and the horizontality of the carriage windows. From within, the travelers were able to experience the new velocity and simultaneously perceive the company's red passion. This whimsical repetition of the Campari logotype with its ever-changing perspectival orders and its myriad segmentations and recompositions was also the fruit of Munari's multidecade long work on the limits of legibility" (Ibid.).

Italian designer Munari was a true modern Renaissance Man - known as a visual artist, inventor, industrial and graphic designer, who also contributed to literature, poetry and theories of learning. His artwork was displayed in many Futurist exhibitions, and he associated with the Futurist movements until distancing himself after World War II. Munari also found himself working on children's books, and like Depero, toy design.

MoMA 340.1966, Modern Poster p. 193.
77¾x109¼ inches, 197½x277½ cm.

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April 7, 2026 12:00 PM EDT
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