This summer, London’s Estorick Collection is serving a tall glass of visual history. In ‘The Art of Campari’, the Canonbury Square gallery traces the bitter elixir’s pioneering approach to advertising. Drawn from Campari’s extensive archives in Milan, the show spans the original Belle Époque posters, through its revolutionary campaigns of the 1920s, culminating in the elegant designs of the 1960s.
The storied ruby-red aperitivo has a rich heritage in creativity and design. Founded in Milan in 1860 by Gaspare Campari (1828-1882), it was under his son Davide Campari (1867-1936) that the company pursued a more dynamic approach to marketing, harnessing the emerging power of the poster. Aiming to create a sophisticated brand profile, by the early 1900s Campari was working with some of the most celebrated poster designers of the day: Leonetto Cappiello, Marcello Dudovich, Adolf Hohenstein, and Marcello Nizzoli.
Bitter Campari (Lo Spiritello), by Leonetto Cappiello, 1921
Initially attuned to an art nouveau sensibility, it was the visual punch of campaigns created by futurist artist Fortunato Depero that became Campari’s most celebrated commissions, from the mid-1920s onwards. Populated by his trademark puppet-like characters, Depero’s bold, witty and geometric designs modernised Campari’s look, creating an unmistakable identity that remains with it to this day. Depero’s perceptive belief that the publicity poster would be ‘the painting of the future’ continued to be reflected in Campari’s post-war commissions, and many of his original designs have been repurposed on contemporary labels, helping Campari achieve its nostalgic, tipple-of-yesterday aesthetic.
Like the Campari recipe of bitter herbs and aromatic plants (which remains unchanged since its 1860s inception) the brand’s graphic identity has been consistent in its commitment to glamour and artfulness. Each poster in the collection emits a timelessness, matched by the Milanese malt.
Chase-up your trip to ‘The Art of Campari’ with a Negroni at one of our handpicked London cocktail bars...
Campari, by Leonetto Cappiello, 1921
Left, Campari Soda è sempre giovane!, 1960s, by Franz Marangolo. Right, Campari Soda corre col tempo!, by Franz Marangolo, 1960s
Bitter Campari, by Adolf Hohenstein, 1901
Left, Distrattamente mise il Bitter Campari in testa, He Distractedly put the Bitter Campari on His Head Ink on Paper, by Fortunato Depero, 1928. Right, Con un occhio vidi un Cordial con un altro un Bitter Campari, With one Eye I saw a Cordial with Another a Bitter Campari, by Fortunato Depero, 1928
Cordial Campari liquor, by Marcello Nizzoli, 1926
INFORMATION
Until 16 September. For more information, visit the Esoterik Collection website
ADDRESS
39A Canonbury Square
London, N1 2AN
-
Louis Vuitton’s duo of Osaka exhibitions celebrate the house’s deep-rooted relationship with JapanUnfolding in Osaka this summer, ‘Visionary Journeys’ is a transporting trip into the house’s history, while ‘Yayoi Kusama – Infinity’ promises an immersion into the works of the Japanese artist, who is a longstanding Louis Vuitton collaborator
-
Rolf Sachs’ largest exhibition to date, ‘Be-rühren’, is a playful study of touchA collection of over 150 of Rolf Sachs’ works speaks to his preoccupation with transforming everyday objects to create art that is sensory – both emotionally and physically
-
Winter Olympics and Paralympics medal designs announcedThe design for the Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games 2026 medals, held in Milan and Cortina, represents the connection between athletes and their support teams
-
Guests dined on Bangladeshi-inspired cuisine at the Serpentine Summer Party 2025The party marked the 25th anniversary of the Serpentine Architecture Pavilion – and celebrated this year’s design by Bangladeshi architect Marina Tabassum and her Dhaka-based firm
-
Rémy Martin and Anish Kapoor: art meets cognac in LondonThe cognac house and the artist unveiled a limited-edition XO decanter and a new sculpture in London at a recent event at the Institute of Contemporary Arts
-
Mark your calendars for Mount Street Neighbourhood Summer Festival, a feast for the sensesThe event, 12-14 June 2025, showcases the mix of food, art and community in the heart of London’s Mayfair. Here's what to expect, from afternoon tea to aperitivo, film screenings to biodynamic flowers
-
Healthy chocolate? Eat it at Makers, London’s new Lebanese chocolatierLocated in Chelsea, Makers is a new ‘healthy chocolate’ shop offering treats free of refined sugar, seed oils, wheat and dairy – and it tastes delicious
-
Inside Domaine Evremond, the UK’s first subterranean winery‘Sparkling wine should be fun.’ We tour Domaine Evremond in Kent, a winery steeped in the English countryside
-
Sketch transforms into an English garden in celebration of Jane Austen’s 250th birthdayThe 11th edition of ‘Sketch in Bloom’ nods to the most notable works of Jane Austen with budding floral installations and a quintessentially English afternoon tea
-
At the Regent Street Sensorium, architectural jelly sculptures are designed to ignite the sensesDelve into the history of London’s Regent Street through a jellyscape, a fragrance cloud and more – plus, for the event’s final week, two new immersive workshops (ends 27 April)
-
Burns Night 2025: where to celebrate in LondonIt is time to raise a wee dram to Scotland’s national poet Robert Burns on Burns Night (25 January). Here is our pick of places to enjoy an evening of generous speechmaking, toasting, and drinking around London
