Amleto Fiore

Amleto Fiore, (1914-2008), was an artist and illustrator born in Naples. He was the eldest son of Giovanni Fiore and his wife Carolina and had five siblings. From a young age he developed a strong passion for art, which he nurtured throughout his life as a self-taught artist. After finishing his studies he moved to Rome where he joined the army, officially becoming a Naval Artist.

His work was strongly linked to nautical and aviation themes. In fact, in the immediate postwar period he produced his first posters for LAI - Linee Aeree Italiane - an airline founded in 1946 to restart regular airline services in Italy after the end of World War II, later absorbed by Alitalia in November 1957.

As Alberto Grampa states "With the end of the conflict, flight and painting came to life through a new art form called Aviaton Art that has found in Italy in recent years several of its devotees such as: Hamlet Fiore, Massimo Mazzoni, Danilo Renzulli, Aldo Brovarone and Allan O'Mill. Airplanes and helicopters Made in the province of Varese continue to be the favorite subjects of these and other artists, and it is also thanks to them that the province of Varese continues to be appreciated and known as the Province with wings."

He later began a collaboration with Alitalia, for which he produced a series of posters and gadgets until 1985. The painting technique predominantly used by the artist is watercolor.

Each poster featured the first version of the Alitalia trademark, selected in 1947 following a national competition. The mark depicted a winged arrow, a clear reference to the logo of the first flock of the Italian Air Force. In the original version, the pictogram was flanked by the "Alitalia" logotype made with blue lines. In the following posters, almost exclusive use will be made of the logotype.

Each poster always has the artist's signature on it. Many posters were made with the technique of chromolithography. Undisputed protagonist is undoubtedly the airplane, which carries with it the idea of travel as discovery and pleasure. This can be guessed from the playful interpretation that the artist gives to the "Europe" poster, depicting a merry-go-round with the iconic monuments of major European capitals. It is also clear from this work that although the style of depiction is mostly realistic, the artist sometimes experiments with other registers.

SOURCES:

https://catalogo.beniculturali.it/

 https://it.wikipedia.org

 https://malpensanews.it

https://www.ninja.it