The World Of Fornasetti
The world of Fornasetti is a universe in and of itself, which the flagship store in Milan, on Corso Venezia, clearly demonstrates. Walking into the store, spread out over three floors, is to find yourself in a stylish version of Alice in Wonderland, where nothing is what it seems. Plates have eyes and pillows look like fish. Monkeys play in the wallpaper and chairs are shaped like ancient pillars. The surreal patterns are matched by the high quality in production and finish. Painstakingly painted by hand, the scope of the production is limited to what the atelier can create without compromising the finished product.
Piero Fornasetti grew up in Milan, and knew already from an early age that he viewed life differently than most people. He opened his atelier, where he conducted technical experiments and printed art books, including works by artists such as De Chirico, Campigli, Savinio, Clerici, and Fontana. In 1939, Gio Ponti asked him to create the magazine cover of the first issue of Domus. Throughout the 1940s, the creative collaboration between the two continued.
Fornasetti was also commissioned to create decorations on public buildings, such as the frescoes of the Recorate of Palazzo Bo in Padua, and the officers’ mess hall in Milan’s Piazza Sant’Ambrogio.
Because of the Second World War, Fornasetti had to escape Italy and seek refuge in Switzerland. Here, he worked as designer for a textile company as well as set designer and costume designer. Traces of these experiences can be seen in the Fornasetti self-portraits and series of harlequins.
The most famous of the many Fornasetti/Ponti-collaborations were the interiors of the Andrea Doria ocean liner, in which Fornasetti furnished and decorated a first-class cabin. However, only a few years later, the ship, travelling too quickly through heavy fog, collided with the M/S Stockholm and sank, resulting in 46 casualties.
Lina Cavalieri was an Italian soprano, during her lifetime widely considered to be the world’s most beautiful woman. Fascinated by the symmetry of her face, Fornasetti created the Tema e Variazioni-series, in which he reproduced and reinterpreted her portrait, over and over. In this way, the face of Cavalieri and the world of Fornasetti became intertwined with one another. Today, many have difficulty separating the two, and the memory of her is kept intact through Fornasetti’s many interpretations.
His most fascinating contribution came towards the end of his working life; the “Metaphysical Room” consisted of thirty-two panels, each three metres tall, to be arranged in various ways but with the aim to create a quiet space for meditation.
Today, Piero Fornasetti’s son Barnaba carries on the legacy, carefully maintaining while also continuously developing the world that his father created through his imagination and unique worldview.
Fornasetti
https://www.fornasetti.com/se/en/
