Fornasetti - 1001 Faces of Creativity
Successful brands could be recognized by a certain style, a unique texture or sometimes by a color itself. But sometimes there is such a distinctive and unique feature that wherever you come across it you will know, such as Fornasetti’s signature face. Applied on many different objects from furniture to accessories, Lina Cavalieri’s face entered Piero’s mind with a photograph he saw on a magazine. She was the perfect archetype – classically beautiful like a Greek statue or the Mona Lisa. “What inspired me to create hundreds of variations on the face of a woman?” asks Italian designer, Piero Fornasetti of himself. “I don’t know,” he admits, “I began to make them and I never stopped.”
Fornasetti is an atelier that is internationally recognised for the design and decoration of timeless pieces of furniture and accessories. It was founded in Milan in the 1950s by Piero Fornasetti, a versatile and eclectic artist distinguished by an unstoppable creative flair that made him one of the most prolific figures of twentieth century Italy.
A great reader and designer since his childhood, Piero Fornasetti defines himself as a self-educated person. Against his father’s will, he enrolled at the Academy of Fine Arts of Brera in 1930, but he was expelled two years later due to his rebellious behavior. Hence, he began studying drawing and lithography on books only, self-taught. The printing press that was available in his father’s workshop allowed him to practice and experiment with all etching and printing techniques. His virtuosity allowed him to work on all kinds of supports: paper, ceramic, glass, leather, textiles.
Barnaba Fornasetti, Artistic Director and guardian of his father Piero's legacy, has led the brand over the last thirty years with courageous and unconventional choices that have guided it to the international renown and vitality it enjoys today.
Every object produced at the Fornasetti Atelier in Milan is wholly handcrafted using exclusive artisanal techniques. Such particular methods of production render these unique pieces and elevate them to the status of true art. Two objects within the same theme will never be absolutely identical. All of the most valuable furniture and porcelain are produced in limited, annual editions.
Today everything is still rigorously executed by hand in the Atelier; colour is applied to the surfaces by a painter who copies the original hand painted paper models. Decoration is transferred onto specially prepared lacquered surfaces before a further two layers of transparent lacquer are applied – a perfectly finished object is the end result.
Now as always, the Fornasetti dream remains unchanged since the 50’s: to endow everyday objects with a cultural value and, through their decoration, an artistic message. Over the course of its history, Fornasetti has created a bona fide visual language, unique in its refined artistic lines. This language is characterised by humour, nostalgia, metaphor and allusions, capable of turning furniture, accessories and porcelain into genuine "conversation pieces” that carry Fornasetti’s soul everywhere while making every piece an object of desire.
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