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discover

OF WHIMS&

FANCIESThe fertile imagination and visual vocabulary

of Piero Fornasetti, the designer and creator of

13,000 objects is celebrated at Milan’s Triennale

Design Museum this month

WRITER ALLIE BISWAS

(Clockwise from the left) FACE VALUE

Lina Cavalieri’s face became Fornasetti’s frequently used template. A plate from the ‘Theme and Variations’ series.

The designer is seen emerging from his ‘Architettura’ screen. The ‘Trumeau-Bar Architettura’ is part credenza, part mobile bar

and part drop-front desk. The design on the ‘Profi li’ bookends was originally made for a table ‘Giano bifronte’ (two-headed Janus).

L ina Cavalieri was a sensation in her days. But the 19th century opera singer is unlikely to have anticipated that her legacy would be cemented in a set of china plates. The series of ceramics, named ‘Theme and Variations’,

was the brainchild of virtuoso Milanese designer Piero Fornasetti (1913–1988), a prolifi c craftsman of fanciful furniture and bold decorative objects. Produced decades after Cavalieri’s fame had faded, the designer elevated the singer’s face to his chief motif after seeing her in a magazine and becoming obsessed. He ended up creating over 350 variations of it throughout his career.

Fornasetti’s magical imagination is celebrated this month at the Triennale Design Museum in Milan, to mark the centenary of his birth. The exhibition–surprisingly, his fi rst major solo survey in Italy–showcases over 700 original pieces from the Fornasetti Archive, highlighting the breadth of the designer’s production, as well as his immaculate artisanship. Works were meticulously made by hand—never mass produced, only adding to their allure. “His position within 20th-century design is unique to such an extent that he is not even defi nable as a designer,” says Fornasetti’s son Barnaba, curator of the show, who continues to run the Fornasetti Atelier. “He was more like a Renaissance artist, able to move freely in several fi elds.”

The exhibition includes rare hand-printed silk scarves (in 1959 the designer received the Neiman Marcus award >

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< for infl uence in the fashion sector), an installation of over 200 umbrella stands and trays, a gallery fi lled with cascading plates hung from the ceiling, and an intimate recreation of Fornasetti’s studio, where he carried out his extensive printmaking, drawing and engraving. Barnaba feels his father’s greatest creation was that of an unclassi-fi able style: “His objects have the peculiarity of not being connected to any specifi c historic period or fashion. I am proud to have carried on his work with respect for his tradition.” A work such as Guardaroba Surreale (Surreal Closet), a delicate ink-on-paper sketch, is a testament to such uniqueness: body parts merge with clothing to create an altogether new vision of wardrobe contents.

OUT OF THE BOXAlthough resistant to design categories, dazzling motifs are undeniably Fornasetti’s signature. Saturated with a sense of joy and a luscious provocation of wit, his works rely on a colossal range of imagery, from melons and musical instru-ments, to leopards, ladders, dogs, umbrellas, books and buildings. One minute, a swarm of butterfl ies surrounds a pair of jewel-cuffed hands (‘Mani Con Farfalle’ vase, 1935); the next, a cathedral is descending into the depths of a cyan city (‘Paravento Duomo Sommerso’, 1951). His works smile at you, taking your eyes by surprise. “It is a name better known for its strong identity,” Barnaba agrees, “rather than for the fame of its brand.”

Although Fornasetti was a great success during his lifetime, widespread acknowledgement of his genius came later. For a signifi cant period of his career, strict modernist principles ruled the design world, fi xated by functionality. Ornamentation was consequently misunderstood, and Fornasetti was confi ned to a marginal role. A pleasingly grand affair, the exhibition has been a long time coming. It is a much-deserved validation for Fornasetti, and seeks to propose a new and more accurate reading of the designer. After all, the vividness of Fornasetti’s forms is precisely what makes them so incomparable. As Barnaba says: “Decoration is something that gives fl avour to life, to the eyes, and stimulates vitality.”

Piero Fornasetti: 100 years practical madness will be held at the Triennale Design Museum Milan from 13th November 2013 – 9th February 2014

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discover

CREATIVE PURSUITS1. This mirror is a classic example of

Fornasetti’s whimsical wit. 2. The ‘Braccio con bicchiere’ metal tray is a 2013 re-edition.

3. The ‘Import-Export’ umbrella stand is made of a sheet of metal. 4. The designer

collaborated with Studio Ars Labor Industrie Riunite (S.A.L.I.R.) in 1935 for the ‘Mani Con Farfalle’ vase. 5. Guardaroba Surreale is an ink-on-paper drawing by Fornasetti from

the 1940s. 6. ‘Paravento Duomo Sommerso’ depicts the Duomo drowning.

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