Piero Fornasetti

The Italian artist and illustrator Piero Fornasetti was one of the wittiest and most imaginative design 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 the 19th-century opera singer Lina 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 desks to dinner plates, lamps and umbrella stands. His work is archly clever, often surreal 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 his 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 Fornasetti’s collaborator and patron. Beginning in the early 1950s, they created a striking a 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.
1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Piero Fornasetti
Metal
Late 20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Piero Fornasetti
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Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Piero Fornasetti
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20th Century Italian Piero Fornasetti
Plexiglass
1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Piero Fornasetti
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1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Piero Fornasetti
Gold
1990s Italian Mid-Century Modern Piero Fornasetti
Porcelain
Late 20th Century Italian Piero Fornasetti
Steel
1980s Italian Vintage Piero Fornasetti
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Mid-20th Century Italian Piero Fornasetti
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1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Piero Fornasetti
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1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Piero Fornasetti
Porcelain
1970s Italian Other Vintage Piero Fornasetti
Porcelain
1960s Italian Other Vintage Piero Fornasetti
Porcelain
1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Piero Fornasetti
Brass, Steel
1960s Italian Other Vintage Piero Fornasetti
Porcelain
Late 20th Century Italian Piero Fornasetti
Steel
1970s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Piero Fornasetti
Mirror, Wood
1970s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Piero Fornasetti
Metal
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Piero Fornasetti
Wood, Paper
1970s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Piero Fornasetti
Mirror, Wood
1970s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Piero Fornasetti
Brass
1970s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Piero Fornasetti
Brass
1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Piero Fornasetti
Ceramic
1950s Italian Other Vintage Piero Fornasetti
Ceramic
1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Piero Fornasetti
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1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Piero Fornasetti
Ceramic
1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Piero Fornasetti
Brass
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Piero Fornasetti
Lacquer
1970s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Piero Fornasetti
Porcelain
Early 2000s Italian Mid-Century Modern Piero Fornasetti
Wood, Lacquer
1970s Italian Vintage Piero Fornasetti
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Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Piero Fornasetti
Porcelain
1960s Italian Other Vintage Piero Fornasetti
Porcelain
1980s Italian Vintage Piero Fornasetti
Porcelain
1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Piero Fornasetti
Porcelain
1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Piero Fornasetti
Gold
1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Piero Fornasetti
Metal
Late 20th Century Italian Piero Fornasetti
Steel
1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Piero Fornasetti
Metal
1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Piero Fornasetti
Porcelain
1970s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Piero Fornasetti
Porcelain
1960s Italian Vintage Piero Fornasetti
Porcelain
Late 20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Piero Fornasetti
Brass
Early 2000s Italian Mid-Century Modern Piero Fornasetti
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21st Century and Contemporary Italian Piero Fornasetti
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1970s Italian Vintage Piero Fornasetti
Porcelain
1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Piero Fornasetti
Brass
1960s Italian Vintage Piero Fornasetti
Wood
1970s Italian Other Vintage Piero Fornasetti
Porcelain
20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Piero Fornasetti
Brass
Late 20th Century Italian Piero Fornasetti
Wool
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Piero Fornasetti
Glass, Art Glass, Blown Glass
20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Piero Fornasetti
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1950s Italian Modern Vintage Piero Fornasetti
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Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Piero Fornasetti
Porcelain
Late 20th Century Piero Fornasetti
Brass
1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Piero Fornasetti
Pottery, Ceramic