The Story of a Poster: Manlio the Artist for Pirelli-tyred Wolsit Bicycles
Manlio, the professional name of Manlio Parrini (1901-1968), was a painter who worked mainly in the late 1920s and 1930s. He became one of the greatest exponents of the monumentalist style that was in vogue at the time and he created many advertisements, especially for the Fiera di Milano, while also putting his name to a number of posters for Wolsit and Legnano bicycles, which both fitted Pirelli tyres. The Società Anonima Wolseley Italiana (abbreviated to Wolsit) was set up in Legnano in the early twentieth century, when Franco Tosi formed a joint venture with Emilio Bozzi to purchase the licence for the English brand Wolseley to manufacture cars, bicycles and aeroplanes. Car production was abandoned almost immediately (and that of aircraft was very short-lived, lasting from 1912 to 1925), but Wolsit continued to manufacture bicycles, which became famous for their design and mechanical quality. Pirelli, which had started producing bicycle tyres in 1890, supplied the tubulars. In the 1920s, Manlio designed an advertisement for the company in Legnano. This large 140 x 100 cm wall poster, recently acquired by the Pirelli Foundation, shows the cyclist Costante Girardengo with his Pirelli-tyred Wolsit bicycle over his shoulder. The advertisement dates from 1925-6, when Girardengo raced with the team, winning the Milano-Sanremo for the fourth and fifth time, and coming second in the Giro d’Italia after winning six stages. In 1927 he was forced to retire due to injury. That year, when Franco Tosi left the company, Wolsit changed its name to Legnano. Manlio also produced an advertisement for the latter, in a style closer to his normal monumentalist manner: the poster, now in the Salce Collection in Treviso, features a visionary view of a monumental factory from which an arm emerges holding a bicycle. Great champions for great posters, telling the stories of companies, products and champions through pictures.
Manlio, the professional name of Manlio Parrini (1901-1968), was a painter who worked mainly in the late 1920s and 1930s. He became one of the greatest exponents of the monumentalist style that was in vogue at the time and he created many advertisements, especially for the Fiera di Milano, while also putting his name to a number of posters for Wolsit and Legnano bicycles, which both fitted Pirelli tyres. The Società Anonima Wolseley Italiana (abbreviated to Wolsit) was set up in Legnano in the early twentieth century, when Franco Tosi formed a joint venture with Emilio Bozzi to purchase the licence for the English brand Wolseley to manufacture cars, bicycles and aeroplanes. Car production was abandoned almost immediately (and that of aircraft was very short-lived, lasting from 1912 to 1925), but Wolsit continued to manufacture bicycles, which became famous for their design and mechanical quality. Pirelli, which had started producing bicycle tyres in 1890, supplied the tubulars. In the 1920s, Manlio designed an advertisement for the company in Legnano. This large 140 x 100 cm wall poster, recently acquired by the Pirelli Foundation, shows the cyclist Costante Girardengo with his Pirelli-tyred Wolsit bicycle over his shoulder. The advertisement dates from 1925-6, when Girardengo raced with the team, winning the Milano-Sanremo for the fourth and fifth time, and coming second in the Giro d’Italia after winning six stages. In 1927 he was forced to retire due to injury. That year, when Franco Tosi left the company, Wolsit changed its name to Legnano. Manlio also produced an advertisement for the latter, in a style closer to his normal monumentalist manner: the poster, now in the Salce Collection in Treviso, features a visionary view of a monumental factory from which an arm emerges holding a bicycle. Great champions for great posters, telling the stories of companies, products and champions through pictures.
