| Piero Fornasetti (1913-1988) was an Italian | | | | and architectural per spectives. He |
| painter, sculptor, designer, craftsman, | | | | particularly liked the juxtaposition of |
| engraver, and compulsive collector of printed | | | | elaborate themes on ordinary objects and |
| ephemera. A precursor to pop-art and an | | | | could find inspiration in and add artistic |
| exemplar of a post-modernism which would not | | | | expression to an array of everyday items: |
| be named for decades hence. Prolific and | | | | hats, waistcoats, pipes, ashtrays, chairs, |
| unafraid of the utilitarian he created | | | | plates, cabinets, pianos, shops, cars and |
| tens-of-thousands of objects in his lifetime. | | | | even ocean liners. Fornasetti also used |
| Perhaps most recognized for his Themes and | | | | variations of the sun, playing cards, fish |
| Variations series (which reworked a single | | | | and flowers as recurring themes in his |
| image of opera singer Lina Cavalieri he found | | | | pieces. |
| in a 19th century French magazine over 500 | | | | |
| times) his works include porcelain and gold | | | | Fornasetti played with vivid reds, blues and |
| plates, chairs, jars, tables, bureaus, | | | | yellows in his work, contrasting them with |
| teapots, umbrellas, lamps, screens, clothes, | | | | his black-and-white pieces. One popular theme |
| etc. Evidently he once said of his work: "I | | | | involves several black-and-white adaptations |
| believe in neither periods nor dates. I | | | | of a woman is face set against porcelain. In |
| refuse to define the value of an object in | | | | one sketch, clouds surround the woman is |
| terms of its era." | | | | face; in others, she is winking or her face |
| | | | is shrouded with a veil, leaving only her |
| During his career, Fornasetti established his | | | | large, piercing eyes. |
| own contemporary style based on illusionism | | | | |