Amaro Spech 1922
Buy this print on Etsy →A great grinning moon-face floats out of the darkness, and in place of a nose it wears a tall crystal flute brimming with glowing ruby-red liqueur. Crowning the whole absurd head, a fan of little national flags on cocktail sticks bristles like festive hair, the Union Jack, the Italian tricolour, the Stars and Stripes, the French and Austrian colours and the rising sun of Japan all jostling together. Below, in enormous confident capitals of egg-yolk yellow, the word AMARO SPECH blazes against the black, with TORINO beneath and the distillery's Turin address running along the foot. It is playful, faintly tipsy and completely unforgettable, the kind of surreal visual joke that stops you mid-stride and lingers long after you have walked on.
This is the work of Luciano Achille Mauzan, the French-born master who became one of Italy's most inventive advertising artists in the 1910s and 1920s. Created in 1922 for Distilleria E. Spech of Turin, the poster promotes their amaro, the herbal Italian bitter drunk as an aperitivo or digestivo. Mauzan loved bold caricature, exaggerated grins and a single arresting idea, and here he distils an entire brand into one cheerful anthropomorphic face, the flags suggesting an amaro enjoyed the world over. The strong yellow lettering set against velvety black is pure poster showmanship, engineered to carry across a busy street and read in an instant. It is a pure specimen of the Italian poster golden age, when Turin's distillers competed for attention with wit as much as with colour, and Mauzan's touch here is as confident as anything he ever signed.
Each print is a faithful fine-art reproduction of the original lithograph, produced on museum-grade 189gsm archival matte paper using pigment inks for deep blacks, luminous yellows and that unmistakable liqueur red. Colours stay rich and true, and the matte surface reads beautifully in any light with no glare. Available in five sizes, 8x12, 12x18, 16x24, 20x30 and 24x36 inches, every poster ships carefully rolled in a sturdy tube, ready to frame in the mounting of your choice. Please note this is a new archival reproduction, not an original antique.
Amaro Spech has a natural home wherever drinks and good humour meet. Hang it above a home bar cart, in a kitchen or dining nook, in a games room or man cave, or in a bar, bistro or Italian restaurant where its yellow-and-black punch will hold a wall on its own. It sits happily beside other vintage aperitivo and liquor advertisements, and it makes a wonderful gift for lovers of amaro and cocktails, for anyone with Italian or Torinese roots, and for collectors of Mauzan and Belle Epoque poster art. Grouped in a trio of vintage liquor posters or hung alone as a bold statement piece, it brings warmth, colour and a knowing wink to the room.
Bring home a grin that never fades and a splash of Italian aperitivo spirit. Order yours today and let this cheeky Turin classic raise a glass to your walls.
