Italian, 1878–1940
Plinio Codognato (1878–1940) was an Italian poster designer and illustrator, an important Italian advertising artist of the early twentieth century. Born in Verona, he studied under the painter Mosè Bianchi. In 1907 he illustrated Luigi Motta's adventure novel L'aquila dell'Indostan with 29 plates, and in 1913 he created what is probably his most famous poster, for the first performance of Verdi's Aida at the Arena di Verona.
Towards the end of the First World War he moved to Milan. For about twenty years he was FIAT's official advertising artist, also creating the company magazine Rivista Fiat. His other clients included Pirelli, Atala, OM, the Circuito di Cremona, Cinzano, Campari, Marsala Florio, Liebig and Columbia gramophones, and he drew illustrations for La Lettura, L'Illustrazione Italiana and La Tradotta. He was also a fine painter.
Of the roughly one thousand posters he produced, several are held in the Salce Collection of the Musei Civici in Treviso. He died in Milan on 30 September 1940.
16 artworks
