Piero Fornasetti: Art in Common Things

When we think of art, we often think of watercolors by Monet, oils by Rembrandt, marble sculptures, bronze busts, objects of beauty inaccessible to us in the everyday, unless we visit a museum, or buy a small, inadequate replica for the bookshelf. We don't think of use. And when we think of household goods, we imagine linens, furniture, cups and plates-utilitarian objects for utilitarian functions. We don't think of art.

We don't think of Piero Fornasetti. But we should.

It's relatively easy to see beauty and wish to commit to canvas. It takes a special sort of genius to see that same beauty and find a way to recreate it in a common object-to make art with function. Italian artist Piero Fornasetti (1913-1988) dedicated his life and unique vision to creating art in every possible form, from wallpaper depicting the city of Jerusalem to window blinds which, when closed, became row upon row of ornate Italian arches.

One of Fornasetti's most well-known and enduring works is his "Variations and Themes," a series of plates depicting the face of 19th century operatic soprano Lina Cavalieri in 350 different poses.

Here, she's sipping from a teacup, there, she's gazing out at you from behind bars. Here, she's wearing a veil, there, she's split in two, a broken classical artifact. Each pose celebrates her beauty, and beauty itself, with creativity and wit.

After his death, Fornasetti's son Barnaba, dedicated himself to replicating his father's most famous work in the same time-honored methods Piero used, including some of the most popular and evocative plates in the " Variations and Themes " series. An intelligent mixture of traditional beauty and modern artistry, these decoupage "canvases" bring art to the everyday life of the kitchen and living room. They can provide an unexpected, gentle touch of humor to a serious conversation, bring a traditional room into the 21st century, or give a splash of visual activity to a neutral palette.

Many of us dream of having a beautifully decorated home, only to settle for old college bookshelves, a value-store dining table and our parents' cast-off sofa and chair. Our "art" consists of a generic print that would look at home in any bank branch or dentist's office. Just because you live an everyday life, don't succumb to the dullness of everyday art. Allow Piero Fornasetti to inspire you to find beauty, comedy, and joy in the common.

Piero Fornasetti: Timeless, Accessible Art

When we think of "art," we often think of something so sublime, so extraordinary, that we can see it only in museums, and appreciate it only if we are fortunate enough to possess special, rare sensibilities-like our overachieving, patronizing cousin Sheldon, or our freshman year art history professor who looked like she rather be painting, or sculpting-or doing anything other than drilling into our philistine heads the wonders of Botticelli. Not for us Picasso in his blue phase-put the department store print over the mantel and change the channel. Got any more taco chips?

But of course this isn't true. Everyone has the ability to appreciate art, and everyone should have the opportunity to bring it into their homes. Not the generic, neutral, unsurprising art of banks, medical offices and lawyers' waiting rooms, but real art-engaging, surprising, and ageless. Art with function as well as form.

Piero Fornasetti's genius was that he was able to create that kind of art. Born in Milan, Italy, in 1913 an educated at the Brera Academy and Milano University, Fornasetti refused to limit his artistic vision to paper or canvas. Instead, he excelled in the decorative arts, using various media to create over 11,000 different items, ranging from an umbrella stand to a decorative screen, from a chair to wallpaper.

He was the interior decorator for the San Remo Casino, and the first class sections of the ocean liner Andrea Doria. And with his furniture, decorative accessories, and clothing items, such as scarves, he brought his unique artistic vision to thousands.

Fornasetti found inspiration everywhere, particularly classical Greek and Roman art. However, his best known inspiration was a run-of-the-mill newspaper engraving of the famous 19th century operatic soprano and beauty, Lina Cavalieri. Although Cavalieri was twice painted and continually photographed, the engraving emphasized her classical beauty, and inspired Fornasetti to recreate it in decoupage on china-350 times. These 350 plates, collectively known as "Themes and Variations" depict the engraving of Cavalieri's face in all sorts of poses and styles, ranging from the darkly romantic image of her with a candle, to a Daliesque vision, to the picture of a shattered plate, on a plate itself. In one common illustration, Fornasetti was able to find hundreds-some witty, some romantic, some clever, some gorgeous-all timeless.

Artists' suns rise and set, but a few years before his death in 1988, interest in Fornasetti's work revived. Now, his son Barnaba works to bring his father's creations to life, using the same methods Piero used almost a century ago. Piero Fornasetti didn't believe that true art could be categorized by time periods-that good art was always good art. And it's true. The plates of "Themes and Variations" are as lovely, amusing, and interesting now as they were when they were created. And rather than hanging isolated in a gallery, they can be brought into the home, where they can serve as focal pieces, conversation starters and, well, serving pieces, showcasing Fornasetti's genius for making the commonplace singularly uncommon.

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Piero Fornasetti: Uncommon, Unexpected

We're often told to look for the beauty everywhere around us, to find the extraordinary in the ordinary but, well, sometimes we all need a little help. And when we can't find the wonder in the solely functional, we need an artist who can put it there-an artist like Piero Fornasetti.

Born in Milan on November 10, 1913, Piero Fornasetti knew early on that he wanted to be an artist. At 17, he began studies at Milan's Academy of Fine Arts of Brera. Two years later, in 1932, he was expelled for "insubordination," engendered, no doubt, by his claim that they were not teaching what he truly wanted to learn: drawing from life. He went on to Milano University, where he exhibited his first work, printed silk scarves, in 1933 at the Milan Triennale.

Fornasetti found his artistic calling working in different media to create functional décor items. Always fascinated by time, he designed a Calendar book for his friend, Gio Ponti. He was commissioned to be the interior decorator for the San Remo Casino, and the first class sections of the ocean liner Andrea Doria. Never one to be limited to canvas, paper, or stone, he used wood, silk, ceramics, and engraving to create unique-and uniquely beautiful-screens, plates, furniture, blinds, wallpaper and accessories. He often used one form of art to create another; for example, architectural columns, repeated, became the motif for a set of blinds. Perhaps the most famous instance of this, however, is his use of a 19th century newspaper engraving for 350 or more decoupage plates.

"Themes and Variations," as the series is called, depicts one face-that of soprano, actress, and renowned beauty Lina Cavalieri-in a series of scenes and poses. Although Cavalieri was one of the most photographed women of her time, Fornasetti used a commonplace engraved illustration, repeating its classical features hundreds of times: in candlelight; as part of a hot air balloon; with a finger to her lips; in a Daliesque scene; winking; or shattered. These plates-as au courant now as the day they were created, captured the public's imagination and later, in the London design store, also known as Themes and Variations, brought the aging artist back into the limelight.

After his father's death in 1988, Barnaba Fornasetti continues to create replicas of these plates, along with other decorative arts, in the same manner in which his father worked, almost a century ago. It is a mark of Fornasetti's artistic vision that his pieces do not seem dated. He once said "I refuse to establish the value of things based on time," and his work is, above all, timeless.