A Set of Six Piero Fornasetti Tema E Variazioni Plates

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A Set of Six Piero Fornasetti Tema E Variazioni Plates

About the Item

Numbers: 113, 159, 160, 163, 193, 198 Provenance: Louis J. Gartner Estate, Palm Beach (Former assistant to Irving Penn) Reference: Fornasetti: Designer of Dreams, Patrick Mauries, page 199. Mauries writes: For Fornasetti, a single product never exhausted the possibilities of an idea. He loved to let his imagination roam, finding more and more layers of meaning and association in the process. Much of his work, therefore, takes the form of variations on a theme. Reference: (http://www.fornasetti.com/en/story/temavariazioni/) TEMA E VARIAZIONI For Piero Fornasetti, a single idea provided enough inspiration to create infinite variations. In fact, much of his work involved constant evolutions of specific themes. By allowing his imagination to roam freely. Fornasetti was able to constantly reinvent or reinterpret an image. Of these themes, the most recurrent are: the sun, playing cards, harlequins, hands, self-portraits. But the most famous, the image that inspired Fornasetti to coin the title ‘Tema e Variazioni’, is the enigmatic face of a woman: the opera singer Lina Cavalieri. He found that now iconic face as he leafed through a 19th century French magazine and became fascinated. Taking her as much as a muse and as a motif, he would return to Lina Cavalieri’s face again and again throughout his career. The archetypal classic female features, and enigmatic expression of Lina Cavalieri became Fornasetti’s most frequently used template and upon which he based more than 350 variations. Lina Cavalieri’s face, explained Piero Fornasetti, was another archetype – a quintessentially beautiful and classic image, like a Greek statue, enigmatic like the ‘Gioconda’ and therefore able to take shape into the idea that was slowly building in his mind. It was this formal, graphic appeal (rather than Lina Cavalieri’s celebrity) that demanded such loyalty and inspired the spontaneous and ceaseless creativity of Fornasetti. For him, this face became the ultimate enduring motif. With great modesty all these works were reproduced on a series of everyday objects like the plate. Tema e Variazioni shows its variations playing with one idea.

Dimensions:
Diameter: 10 in (25.4 cm)
Sold As:
Set of 6
Style:
Mid-Century Modern (Of the Period)
Place of Origin:
Italy
Period:
1960-1969
Date of Manufacture:
1960's
Condition:
Minor fading.
Seller Location:
Downingtown, PA
Reference Number:
Seller: NY78021stDibs: LU8610972272