Fornasetti; the art that breeds design!

October 09, 2019

"Piero Fornasetti (Milan, 10 November 1913 - 15 October 1988) was an Italian versatile and eclectic artist, characterised by an unstoppable creative flair that made him one of the most prolific figures of the 20th century, and difficult to ascribe to a specific movement."

So it entitles Wikipedia in the definition of the Italian artist.

Nothing could be more true, given that this great artist would be difficult to label; in fact, he started his career as a decorator and printmaker, then became affectionate about ceramics at the age of 33 when he took part in an exhibition organized in 1947 in Milan by his friend Gio Ponti.

Ponti was so enthusiastic about that exhibition that he was able to declare:

 "If one day the chronicle of my life is written, a chapter will have to be titled Passione per Fornasetti".

With the approach of the Fifties, the imaginative team of Gio Ponti and Piero Fornasetti had the option to try their perspective: a home inside and outfitting style that they had for quite some time been advancing in principle. A technique that imagines "the particular usefulness of rooms and furniture", "the straightforwardness and genuineness of structures and materials", the love of "sun, air, and light", and "solidarity of yearning for every social class". 

The "Tema e Variazioni" arrangement was conceived! 

Beginning from the representation of a lady, the immortal essence of Lina Cavalieri an opera singer who lived at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries and who was famous at the time as "the most wonderful lady on the planet": a genuine model of baffling, traditional magnificence. This work, which so dazzled Henry Miller that he utilized it on the front of his collection of memoirs "My Life and Times", keeps on being repeated today by his son Barnaba Fornasetti on a progression of regular items, porcelain as well as furniture and frill, in unending new varieties. In 2016, the initial 100 outlines from the arrangement were gathered in a totally handcrafted, esteemed, constrained version volume. During that year, the arrangement entered the universe of theatre, ending up some portion of the arrangements of "Don Giovanni", the opera by W.A. Mozart presented and produced by Fornasetti.

In this way, the ageless speciality of the ace is transmitted to his son Barnabas who unremittingly advances his unmistakable character imitated in present-day objects of our occasions. 

The initial 100 varieties of the notable Fornasetti's face become a gatherers' book. 

In fact in 2016 Barnaba Fornasetti distributed a restricted version book altogether carefully assembled which contains the initial 100 delineations from the arrangement "Tema e Variazioni" (Theme and Variations) planned by Piero Fornasetti, with writings by Barnaba Fornasetti himself, Gio Ponti, Alberto Manguel and Glenn O'Brien.

"To make a book like this, in this day and age, felt essential to me – to underline the key role of time in [a] human being’s work through artisan processes and the pleasure of research of high-quality details.’ 

That's how Barnaba commented about the book.

It is estimated that there are more than 400 versions of the face of Lina Cavalieri.

Not surprisingly, you can admire her masked; or painted like a sun; or as an Egyptian deity. You can see her happy, sad or playful while sticking her tongue out.

Often it shows the face but sometimes also the body and in a particular case also the back.

But between these themes, the most recurrent are the sun, playing cards, harlequins, hands and obviously the self-portraits.

In any case, this is the mother concept of the Italian artist's hand, the reproduction of a common theme in constant evolution from infinite points of view.

This balance of art was brought forward and renewed with great care by his son in art Barnaba who has the great merit of having preserved the idea of ​​his father by re-modernizing it, succeeding in applying the distinctive features of these themes to a growing number of pieces of furniture with design increasingly sophisticated and elegant.

We conclude the praise of this great artistic hand by inviting you to discover the new arrivals of the collection in our online shop, among which are distinguished:

- The new Wallplates collection in Platinum

- The Fornasetti Umbrella Stand Scimmie & Monkeys

- The Fornasetti tray " Mano" in platinum

and

- The Fornasetti Dining table Piscibus

On the other hand, we have established a long love story with the Milanese artist as we are, with our intimate Showroom, one of the few exclusive suppliers of some limited edition Fornasetti pieces (including the book Tema & Variazioni). 

So long-life to the Fornasetti art and to the art that breeds design!

"Imagination, fantasy, and creativity are always irresistible for the soul and spirit. Those who have these qualities are responsible for passing them on to others, as fantasy breeds fantasy."

-Piero Fornasetti

 

 

Sources:

- Wikipedia 

- Design Boom

- New York Times

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