Art
Art for Advertising: Plinio Codognato, the Bard of Speed
Centaurs, racing circuits, and a single bold number – Codognato sold not cars but the sensation that speed had entered the world.
In the years when the automobile was not yet within everyone’s reach and represented, for those who owned one, a powerful symbol of the future, Plinio Codognato depicted it by emphasising its force and speed – contributing to the desire to one day possess it.
Born in Verona in 1878 and trained at the city’s Accademia di Belle Arti, Codognato moved permanently to Milan in 1918, when the Futurist message managed to leave the darkness of the war years behind. His artistic and communicative talent was soon discovered by companies such as Bianchi, Pirelli, and above all Fiat, with whom he began a collaboration around 1923 that would last almost until his death in 1940.
The automobile enters his posters immediately as an object capable of stirring excitement through its dynamism and its promise of freedom. In 1923 he produced an image for Fiat dedicated to racing: drivers and cars fill the scene with an almost physical energy. A version of the poster also exists celebrating Fiat’s first and second place at the Gran Premio d’Europa. The car is not simply shown – it is associated directly with victory.
