143 x 88 in./363.2 x 223.5 cm
Imp. P. Vercasson, Paris
Cappiello created two designs for the Pygmalion department store; for his summer fashions design, see Cappiello/Rennert, 187. “In numerous instances, Cappiello created designs for commercial products in which his penchant for exuberance and exaggeration remains quiescent. What we get instead of extravagance are commercial images executed in fine style with the quiet competence of a talented artist. These two large, 4-sheet posters... [typify] this approach. The carefully arranged scenes could easily stand alone as pieces of fine art; note how they create an aura of refinement and gentility without ostentation. Where is the exuberant, outrageous, capricious Cappiello that we know and love? He’s still there, but in these designs he shows his quiet side: the artist who may easily have chosen a less volatile professional career, a skilled posterist who knows when excess would be inappropriate or unnecessary” (Cappiello/Rennert, p. 134). This four-sheet poster is the only known copy.
