Tito Corbella between painting, illustration and poster design
Tito Corbella (Pontremoli, 1885 – Rome, 1966) was an Italian painter, illustrator and poster designer whose career developed across some of the most dynamic areas of early 20th-century visual culture. His work moved between painting, commercial graphics, illustrated postcards and cinema posters, while maintaining a consistent interest in the human figure and, above all, in representations of women.
A refined sense of drawing, close attention to silhouette and an instinct for elegant composition characterise both his paintings and his graphic work. Throughout his career, Corbella was able to transfer the sensitivity of a painter into the more immediate language of modern visual communication.
Training in Venice and the beginnings of his painting career
After graduating in Chemistry from the University of Padua, Corbella chose to devote himself to art. He subsequently attended the Accademia di Belle Arti in Venice, where he studied under Guglielmo Ciardi and Ettore Tito.
His Venetian training provided him with a solid painterly background and sharpened his sensitivity to colour, figure and composition. At first, he worked mainly in portraiture and still life. At the same time, however, he developed a growing interest in illustration and in the possibilities offered by graphic design.
This dual experience, both pictorial and graphic, would remain one of the defining features of his career.
Tito Corbella as illustrator and postcard artist
Corbella achieved considerable popularity through illustrated postcards, a medium that enjoyed enormous circulation during the first decades of the 20th century.
Female figures, couples, sentimental scenes and images of fashionable elegance form an important part of this production. His drawing is refined, while pose, costume and gesture contribute to the creation of an idealised yet immediately recognisable image of femininity.
In this field, Corbella developed a visual language capable of combining painterly culture with popular communication. His activity as a graphic artist also led him to work with major firms in the sector, including the Officine Ricordi in Milan, one of the most important names in the history of Italian poster design.
Tito Corbella and cinema posters
One of the most significant chapters in Corbella’s career is linked to Italian silent cinema.
In 1915 he designed the poster for Assunta Spina, produced by Caesar Film and starring Francesca Bertini. Three years later, he also worked on the promotional image for Tosca, again with Bertini in the leading role.
In both posters, the actress dominates the composition and becomes the principal visual focus.
For Assunta Spina, Corbella depicted Bertini in a light, asymmetrical dress enriched with red motifs and fringes. Her pose is firm and controlled; the raised chin and the red rose held between her lips heighten the image’s dramatic and iconic character.
In the poster for Tosca, by contrast, the composition is more dynamic. The actress wears a long yellow dress, accompanied by a large hat and floral elements. The movement of the skirt and the gesture of the figure introduce a stronger theatrical quality.
In these works, Corbella demonstrates a remarkable ability to transform portraiture into a powerful advertising image. His style retains the linear elegance associated with Italian Liberty, while also revealing a more synthetic and modern treatment of figure and space, gradually approaching the sensibility of Art Deco.
The Edith Cavell postcard series
During the First World War, Corbella also adopted a visual language very different from the refined and sentimental tone of much of his earlier work.
In 1915 he produced a series of six postcards for the Inter-Art Company in London, devoted to the story of Edith Cavell, the British nurse executed during the German occupation of Belgium.
In this series, Corbella abandoned fashionable elegance in favour of a more severe and dramatic narrative. The images rely on direct symbolism, strong contrasts and heightened emotional tension.
The sequence reveals his ability to adapt his graphic language to different purposes, moving from commercial imagery to political communication and wartime propaganda.
From the 1920s to his mature years
During the 1920s, Corbella continued to work in advertising and poster design. The human figure remained central to his work, while his graphic language gradually became more concise and structurally controlled.
Among his Roman commissions was a poster for the Società Romana Torrefazione Caffè Remo Camilloni & C., a coffee roasting company based in Piazza Sant’Eustachio in Rome.
In 1935, he also designed a poster for Ala Vittoria S.A. Here, the visual construction reflects the more monumental and celebratory codes that characterised official Italian graphic design during the period.
From 1951, Corbella was also associated with the group of cinema poster artists who awarded the Premio Spiga, a prize devoted to advertising illustration and named after Duilio Cambellotti.
Despite the variety of his commissions, Corbella remained consistently committed to figurative art. Painting, illustration and graphic design should therefore not be regarded as separate areas of his activity, but rather as different expressions of the same visual culture.
A pastel by Tito Corbella available in our gallery
Our gallery currently offers a pastel by Tito Corbella, dating from around 1930 and depicting a lady in 18th-century costume.
Shown in profile, the young woman wears an elegant pink gown and holds a small bouquet of flowers. The historical costume is interpreted through a distinctly 20th-century sensibility, while the softness of pastel enhances the flesh tones, fabrics and delicate details of the dress.
The work offers an especially interesting example of Corbella’s sustained interest in the female figure and of the close relationship between painterly culture and refined illustration that runs throughout his career.
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