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