Last week, the official poster designs for the Winter Olympics 2026, otherwise known as Milano Cortina 2026, were unveiled. Ten posters by ten different Italian artists celebrate the spirit and athleticism of the games, and include artworks for both the Olympics and Paralympics.
Taking place next February in northeastern Italy, the forthcoming Winter Olympics are the first games to be hosted by two separate cities – Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo. The featured sports include ski jumping, ice hockey, snowboarding, speed skating and curling, among others.
The posters for the games are the result of a collaboration between the Fondazione Milano Cortina and the renowned Milanese cultural institution Triennale Milano. Working together, these organisations curated a list of ten contemporary Italian artists who could bring their unique styles to bear on one of the most high-profile creative briefs.
The chosen talent includes mixed-media artist Flaminia Veronesi, painter Beatrice Alici, illustrator and painter Maddalena Tesser, and multidisciplinary artist Aronne Pleuteri. Together these artists created a selection of posters that span oil, gouache, acrylic painting, digital illustration and mixed-media compositions.
The artworks themselves capture themes of success, unity, competition, play and movement. For instance, the poster of Trento-based artist Andrea Fontanari depicts two cross-country skiers supporting one another at the finish line, speaking to the importance of solidarity at the games; while the poster by Milan-based artist Roberto de Pinto shows the emergence of snowdrops – flowers that bloom at the end of winter in Italy – nodding to the resilience and unwavering determination of Paralympic athletes.
Together these posters form an opportunity to not just celebrate some of Italy’s most exciting artistic talent, but also some of the world’s best athletic talent. They maintain a long tradition of poster design for the Games that has seen contributions by David Hockney, Robert Rauschenberg and Chris Ofili, to name but a few. The iconic Olympic poster continues to be a unique merging of creativity and passion, and a tribute to the indomitable human spirit.
