Piero Fornasetti

(1913 – 1988)
 

Piero Fornasetti was an outstanding Italian designer and architect, famous for his unrepeatable eclectic style and incomparable creativity. Imaginative and absolutely independent, he can hardly be ascribed to any particular art movement. Yet there is no doubt his incredible pieces have had a huge impact on the development of Italian design, especially industrial design culture. 

Fornasetti’s incredible talent, as well as endless creativity began to manifest itself already in his childhood. Since he was a child, he created marvelous landscapes and stunning still lives, experimented with styles, shapes and colours. At the age of 19 he got enrolled at Brera Academy of fine arts in Milan, but was expelled two years later. He was expelled from other schools as well; however, it did not prevent him from studying Arts on his own. Endlessly curious and enthusiastic about self-improvement, he spent countless hours expanding the horizons of his knowledge and artistic taste, as well as mastering his skills. His particular interest in engraving and printing techniques led to collaborating with such iconic artists as Massimo Campigli, Alberto Savinio and Giorgio de Chirico: Fornasetti printed extraordinary lithographs for them. But what is more important, this led to inventing a new method of printing that made it possible to create unique graphic effects on silk scarves. 

Fornasetti was extremely passionate about graphics and lettering. He produced numerous pieces including Christmas cards, advertising posters, magazine covers, both on his own and with other prominent artists. In the late 1940s, Fornasetti focused mainly on furnishing and creative concepts of interiors. Together with Gio Ponti, one of the most important and renowned Italian architects and designers, he created stunning pieces and came up with wittiest ideas that are still in use. The two artists’ concepts became a game-changer in the world of interior decoration for houses, ship cabins and even cinemas.  The postulates of their style proclaimed functionality over impractical beauty and simplicity over the complicated mixture of shapes and textures.

One of the most iconic works by Fornasetti is undoubtedly his series “Theme and Variations” – a stunning collection of unique portraits of a lady. The image, created by Fornasetti, is now considered a true archetype of enigmatic, classical beauty. As for the person behind the portraits, more than 500 variations of the same face, depicted by the artist, belonged to Lina Cavalieri, an opera singer, who was considered the world’s most beautiful woman. 

Along with such iconic designers and artisans as Achille Castiglioni, Harvey Guzzini and Tommaso Barbi the name of Piero Fornasetti stands on the forefront of Italian contemporary design. Unlike his fellow artists, Fornasetti is much more famous abroad than in Italy.