Giuseppe Riccobaldi - Sidarma Italnavi - 1970s

A masterpiece of postwar Italian advertising posters, in a 70s reissue for the renowned shipping company Sidarma Italnavi to promote the transatlantic routes between Italy and South America. The work bears the unmistakable signature of Giuseppe Riccobaldi Del Bava, one of the undisputed masters of Italian graphic design and advertising of the twentieth century. Riccobaldi masterfully blends elements of Italian tradition with the dynamism of the South American imagination: • The lower section celebrates Italian historical roots, with a powerful stylized representation of the monumental profiles of Venice (the unmistakable domes of the Basilica di San Marco and the Campanile) brushed by warm amber and reddish tones. • The upper section projects the gaze toward the New World, with the dynamic and proud figure of a gaucho on horseback throwing the lasso, an evergreen symbol of the Argentine pampas and of South America. • In the center, the elegant white silhouette of a modern transatlantic liner acts as an ideal bridge within a perfect circular orbit, a geometric metaphor of the transoceanic journey. A piece of strong visual and chromatic impact, characterized by the typical contrast between the dark background and the vibrant shades of red, pink and gold in the composition.