Sandro Symeoni: Posters for Fellini, Leone and Argento

From Ferrara cartoons to Roman cinema

Born in Migliarino, near Ferrara, Symeoni drew caricatures for local papers as a teenager, studied at the Dosso Dossi art institute and, with his teacher Laerte Milani, made animated advertising cartoons for the Pubblicine company. In the 1950s he moved to Rome and painted for Italian and foreign production companies until the 1990s.

One film, several Symeoni formats

Symeoni painted cinema advertising of every kind — large posters, locandine and fotobuste — so a single film can exist in several of his formats. The big 2-fogli and 4-fogli show the full composition; the locandina usually re-arranges the same image in a tall, narrow layout above the credits; fotobuste are mainly photographic, so his hand shows most on the posters and locandine. When a listing says "Symeoni", check which format and which edition it is, because popular titles were often re-released with new prints (see riedizione).

Posters by Symeoni, decade by decade

Recognising a Symeoni poster

His signature reads "Symeoni" or the short "Sym". Compared with the realist portraits of the 1950s painters, his designs are more graphic and dramatic — strong silhouettes, bold blocks of colour and expressive lettering — which made him a natural choice for westerns, thrillers and horror.

The Profondo rosso and Per un pugno di dollari posters are the most sought after; his crime-film posters of the 1970s are an affordable way into his work. So are his Italian posters for American films, such as Prendi i soldi e scappa (Take the Money and Run), L'ultima casa a sinistra (The Last House on the Left) and Che fine ha fatto Baby Jane? (What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?), which collectors of the films themselves may not know to look for under their Italian titles.

Record covers and exhibitions

Symeoni's illustration and graphic work also reached music: his artwork appears on hundreds of vinyl record and CD covers. Alongside his commissions he kept up his own painting and graphics and showed them in exhibitions around Italy. Ferrara named him an "Ambassador of Ferrara in the World" and held two retrospectives of his poster work, in the former church of San Romano and in the Palazzo Municipale.