A focus on BLOW UP and its original Italian triptych
Dear Friends and Movie Lovers:
Hello from Hollywood. Two rare first release Italian BLOW UP posters are among our highlights this month: one green "2 Foglio" and one red "4 Foglio". There has been some confusion about the red version, which I will get into here; if you're not interested in this poster, just skip the paragraph below to see more of this month's highlights.
There are several great designs for Antonioni's BLOW UP, but the most sought-after are the original set of red, green and yellow Italian posters from the film's 1967 Italian first release. They were printed in each of the three standard Italian sizes — 13" x 28" Locandina, 39"x55" 2 Foglio and 55"x78"4 Foglio — and have become almost impossible to find over the past decade.
When the film was re-released, a red version was printed in each format, and those versions are much more common; but without getting too deep into the weeds, those re-release posters (especially the 2f and 4f sizes) used a different shade of red — more magenta and less "ripe tomato" colored.
The 2f re-release sizes were printed by a different company (Rotolitografica), but the 4f were printed by 'Rotolito', which printed the first release posters. Still with me?
As a result, the magenta colored 4f posters are usually sold as first release posters, but I think this is a mistake. The true originals (be they first release or "first printings") have different text at the bottom (the same printer's text is found at the bottom of the green and yellow styles), and the color is markedly different. (PS: We just got a first release red 2 Foglio too)
