The Italian artist and designer Piero Fornasetti was one of the wittiest and most imaginative talents of the 20th century. He crafted an inimitable decorative style from a personal vocabulary of images that included birds, butterflies, hot-air balloons, architecture and — most frequently, and in some 500 variations — an enigmatic woman’s face based on that of Cavalieri. Fornasetti used transfer prints of these images, rendered in the style of engravings, to decorate an endless variety of furnishings and housewares that ranged from chairs, tables and decorative objects to dinner plates, table lamps and umbrella stands. His work is archly clever, often Surrealist and always fun.
Fornasetti was born in Milan, the son of an accountant, and he lived his entire life in the city. He showed artistic talent as a child and enrolled at Milan’s Brera Academy of Fine Art in 1930, but was expelled after two years for consistently failing to follow his professors’ orders.
A group of Fornasetti's hand-painted silk scarves, displayed in the 1933 Triennale di Milano, caught the eye of the architect and designer Gio Ponti, who, in the 1940s, became the artist's collaborator and patron. Beginning in the early 1950s, they created a striking series of desks, bureaus and secretaries that pair Ponti’s signature angular forms with Fornasetti’s decorative motifs — lighthearted arrangements of flowers and birds on some pieces, austere architectural imagery on others. The two worked together on numerous commissions for interiors, though their greatest project has been lost: the first-class lounges and restaurants of the luxury ocean liner Andrea Doria, which sank in 1956.
Fornasetti furnishings occupy an unusual and compelling niche in the decorative arts: they are odd yet pack a serious punch. They act, essentially, as functional sculpture. A large Fornasetti piece such as a cabinet or a desk can change the character of an entire room; his smaller works have the aesthetic power of a vase of flowers, providing a bright and alluring decorative note. The chimerical, fish-nor-fowl nature of Fornasetti’s work may be its greatest strength. It stands on its own. Bringing the Fornasetti look into the future is Barnaba Fornasetti, who took the reins of the company after his father's death.
Find vintage Piero Fornasetti dinner plates, chairs, tables and other furniture on 1stDibs.
| Average Sold Price |
| $1,561 |
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| Related Creators |
H 13.38 in W 5.9 in D 5.51 in
Piero Fornasetti 'Kisses' Table Lamp, Mid-Century Design, 1990s
By Piero Fornasetti, Fornasetti
Located in Milano, IT
A striking example of Italian Mid-Century inspired surrealism, this rare "Kisses" table lamp was designed by the iconic Piero Fornasetti and produced by Antonangeli Illuminazione in ...
Plastic
H 13.38 in W 5.11 in D 6.29 in L 13.38 in
1990s Gorgeous "Commedia dell'Arte" table Lamp by Piero Fornasetti for Antonange
By Fornasetti, Piero Fornasetti
Located in Milano, IT
This exceptional "La Commedia dell'Arte" table lamp represents a prestigious collaboration between the Piero Fornasetti and the avant-garde Milanese lighting house Antonangeli Illumi...
Plastic
H 47.2 in Dm 10.6 in L 47.2 in
1990s Rare "Aquarium" Floor Lamp by Piero Fornasetti for Antonangeli
By Piero Fornasetti, Fornasetti
Located in Milano, IT
1990s Gorgeous "Aquarium" Floor Lamp by Piero Fornasetti for Antonangeli in polypropylene. The lamp features a continuous, brilliantly silk-screened polypropylene shade adorned with ...
Plastic
H 0.5 in Dm 8.25 in
Piero Fornasetti Zodiaci Zodiac Plates for Perugia, Complete Set of Twelve
By Piero Fornasetti
Located in Downingtown, PA
Piero Fornasetti Zodiaci Zodiac Plates for Perugia, Complete Set of Twelve 1963–1974 This complete set of twelve porcelain plates, one for each sign of the zodiac, was designed by P...
Porcelain
Piero Fornasetti Porcelain Plate Tema e Variazioni No. 224, Lina Cavalieri
By Piero Fornasetti
Located in Downingtown, PA
Piero Fornasetti Porcelain Plate, Tema e Variazioni No. 224, Lina Cavalieri 1980s This Piero Fornasetti porcelain plate from the Tema e Variazioni series presents the face of the Italian opera singer Lina Cavalieri fragmented and repeated across the well in a dense field of overlapping crescents, so that only the eyes and brows of each impression remain visible. The lithographic transfer is printed in black and gray on a white ground, and the scale-like repetition reads at a distance as an abstract pattern before resolving into dozens of watching eyes. Numbered 224 in the series, it is among the more unusual and graphically inventive of the Tema e Variazioni designs, and it demonstrates the Surrealist wit and optical play that defined Fornasetti’s approach to the decorative arts. Dimensions Diameter: 10 inches (25.4 cm) Height: 1 inch (2.5 cm) Marks Printed to the reverse with the Fornasetti eye...
Porcelain
H 1.25 in Dm 9.25 in
Piero Fornasetti Rosenthal Porcelain Plate, Temi e Variazioni Motiv 33, 1980s
By Piero Fornasetti, Rosenthal
Located in Downingtown, PA
Piero Fornasetti Rosenthal Porcelain Plate, Temi e Variazioni Motiv 33, 1980s German, 1980s The plate presents Piero Fornasetti's most celebrated image, the face of the opera singer...
Porcelain
H 1.11 in Dm 9.45 in
Piero Fornasetti “Il Minestrone” Plate, Specialità Milanesi, Italy Mid Century
By Fornasetti, Piero Fornasetti
Located in Bad Säckingen, DE
Iconic vintage porcelain plate designed by Piero Fornasetti as part of the celebrated "Specialità Milanesi" series. This plate features the whimsical and highly detailed black-and-wh...
Ceramic, Porcelain
H 14 in W 11 in D 0.25 in
1993 Fornasetti Portfolio 6 Surrealist Black/Gold Prints France
By Piero Fornasetti, Fornasetti
Located in Miami, FL
The complete portfolio from the series Sole e Lune containing 6 Fine Art Silkscreen by Piero Fornasetti published in France by Graphique de France in 1993. This portfolio was exclusively created for Pier One...
Paper
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| $1,561 |
Average sold price of items in the past 12 months |
| $155-$6,704 |
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