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    Artistry 12 History 25 Cultural projects 14
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    Artistry

    History

    1913
    BIRTH AND EARLY YEARS
    Piero Fornasetti is born in Milan on 10 November. The eldest son of a wealthy middle-class family - his father trades in typewriters - he spends his childhood in the Città Studi district. At the age of 10, he already shows a strong artistic disposition.
    1930
    A PATH OF SELF-EDUCATION
    He enrolls at the Brera Academy to study drawing, but is expelled because he rejects the teaching methods. In 1932, he enters the School of Applied Arts at the Castello Sforzesco, training himself and following his own inclinations.
    1939 - 1940
    PIERO FORNASETTI AND GIO PONTI
    Ponti appreciates the work of Fornasetti's art printworks. In 1939, he entrusts him with the first cover of Domus, of which he is the director. The collaboration evolves: in the 1940s comes the first commission for a piece of furniture decorated with one of his artistic prints.
    1940
    THE ATELIER
    He opens his Atelier. Alongside technical experimentation, his activity as a printer of art books flourishes. He prints editions and books by the major artists of the time: De Chirico, Campigli, Savinio, Clerici, Fontana.
    1942
    PUBLIC DECORATIONS
    In Padua he frescoes the Rectorate of Palazzo Bo, home of the University. It is his first major public intervention. In Milan he decorates the officers' mess of the barracks in Piazza Sant'Ambrogio.
    1943 - 1946
    ARTISTIC EXILE
    During the war years he takes refuge in Switzerland, where he becomes a designer for a textile company, paints and works as a set designer and costume designer. These are the years of Follia Pratica (Practical Madness), the self-portraits, and the series of harlequins.
    1947-1949
    INTERIOR DECORATIONS
    He makes eight large panels for the Arlecchino cinema in Milan. He adorns the interiors of the Dulciora pastry shop with a series of very rich decorations, following the principle of horror vacui.
    1950
    INTERNATIONAL FAME AND A SON
    A period of great creativity and international renown begins. He decorates the games room of the Giulio Cesare liner, the interiors of the Hotel Duomo in Milan and the Casino of Sanremo. He exhibits his work in New York. His son Barnaba is born.
    1951-1952
    "TOTAL LOOK" INTERIORS
    Working with Gio Ponti, he creates the first complete interior design for Casa Lucano. He furnishes and decorates a first class cabin of the Andrea Doria ocean liner. He exhibits the Architettura trumeau at the IX Triennale di Milano.
    1953
    THE CREATION OF AN ICON
    The Tema e Variazioni series is born. Over the years he reproduces and reinterprets, varies and reassembles the portrait of Lina Cavalieri countless times, making it one of the icons of the Atelier.
    1958
    THE METAPHYSICAL ROOM
    He concludes and presents the Metaphysical Room, a work composed of thirty-two decorative panels each 3 metres high, which can be arranged in various ways to form a space for meditation. It is his first example of installation art.
    1959
    THE NEIMAN MARCUS AWARD
    For distinguishing himself in the field of fashion, in Dallas he is awarded the Neiman Marcus Award, an annual award for individuals capable of promoting and influencing style.
    1968-1972
    BARNABA YOUNG ART DIRECTOR
    Barnaba Fornasetti attends the Brera Academy of Fine Arts. During his years of study, while still very young, he works with the fabric designer Ken Scott and is the creative director of the underground magazine Get Ready.
    1970-1979
    PIERO CURATOR
    He also devotes time to curating exhibitions as well as producing new paintings and drawings. In 1977 he becomes Artistic Director of the Bibliophiles Gallery, founded in 1970. In 1979 he curates a design column in Casa Vogue
    1982
    COLLABORATION BETWEEN FATHER AND SON
    Upon Piero's request, Barnaba returns to Milan from Tuscany, where he was living, and starts working in the Atelier. Father and son begin their partnership by decorating a Ford Granada station wagon together. And that's how the Archivettura was born.
    1983
    AT THE VICTORIA & ALBERT MUSEUM
    The Victoria & Albert Museum acquires the Architettura Trumeau for its permanent furniture collection.
    1988-1990
    BARNABA IN CHARGE
    Piero dies in 1988. Barnaba decides to carry on the legacy of the Atelier and takes over its management. He dedicates these years to re-examining his father's activity, extrapolating principles, methods, characteristics and intuitions.
    1991-1992
    THE EXHIBITION AT THE VICTORIA & ALBERT MUSEUM
    The Victoria and Albert Museum dedicates a large exhibition to Fornasetti, which Barnaba himself helps to set up. The exhibition is also shown at Palazzo Ruspoli in Rome. The first monograph dedicated to Fornasetti is published.
    1993-1994
    THE FIRST CLOTHING COLLECTION
    Barnaba initiates the first creative collaborations, producing a collection of Fornasetti clothing with the fashion designer Lawrence Steele.
    2006-2010
    THE NEW LINES
    At around this time, Barnaba finds an unpublished sketch by Piero for a series of vases, and creates what will go on to become an iconic Fornasetti object. In parallel, he develops new product lines, including Fornasetti wallpapers and Home Fragrances.
    2013-2016
    THE GREAT RETROSPECTIVES
    The centenary of his birth sees the first major exhibition in Italy: Piero Fornasetti. One hundred years of practical madness at the Triennale di Milano. This is followed by appearances at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris, DDP in Seoul and Artipelag in Stockholm.
    2015
    CULTURAL DECORATIONS
    Decoration of the Rizzoli bookstore in New York. Restoration and decoration of the Teatro dell'Arte at the Triennale di Milano.
    2016
    FORNASETTI GOES ON STAGE
    Under the artistic direction of Barnaba, Fornasetti produces an opera, The rake punished or Don Giovanni by W.A. Mozart with a libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte, performed for the first time in Italy in its original version.
    2017
    THE MAD VISIONARIES! AWARD
    Barnaba extends Fornasetti's creativity beyond the boundaries of design, establishing artistic collaborations with Commes des Garcons and the artist Anj Smith, as well as decorating a monument in the centre of Milan. He is awarded with the MAD Visionaries! Award.
    2018-2021
    DIALOGUE WITH THE CLASSICAL
    On Barnaba's initiative, two exhibitions are organised on the theme of the dialogue between the language of Fornasetti and classical art, with the title: >i>Practical Quotes. Fornasetti at Palazzo Altemps in Rome, and Fornasetti Theatrum Mundi at the Pilotta in Parma.

    Cultural projects

    2013 - 2014
    Fornasetti. One Hundred Years of Practical Madness
    A century after his birth, the Triennale di Milano dedicates a retrospective to Piero Fornasetti, exploring the artist's work in a wide-ranging way, from graphic art to design objects, from paintings to interior decoration.
    2015
    Fornasetti. La Folie Pratique
    An exhibition at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris that recounts 50 years of Piero Fornasetti's art and im-agination: on display are the first paintings, the visionary projects created with Gio Ponti, the prints, and the most iconic creations.
    2016
    Tema e Variazioni. The first series
    Fornasetti celebrates its iconic Tema e Variazioni series by devoting an artist's book to it, made entirely by hand and containing the first 100 variations. The result is a unique, personally signed, limited edition volume.
    2016 - 2017
    Fornasetti. Practical Madness
    Seoul, Dongdaemun Design Plaza
    Over 1300 items tell the story of Fornasetti from his debut as a painter to the art book print workshop, from the close collaboration with Gio Ponti starting in the 1940s to the contemporary works created by Barnaba.
    2016 - 2017
    Don Giovanni
    Fornasetti presents The Rake Punished or Don Giovanni in its original version, bringing in a team of outstand-ing artists. The opera is staged at the Triennale di Milano and at the Teatro della Pergola in Florence.
    2017 - 2018
    Fornasetti at Palazzo Altemps
    The spaces of Palazzo Altemps interact with 27 artistic incursions created using over 800 Fornasetti creations. Practical quotes. Fornasetti at Palazzo Altemps creates an unsettling dialogue between the classical and the Atelier's creative flair.
    2019 - 2020
    Fornasetti. Inside In, Outside Out
    The first exhibition in Sweden, which encompasses Piero Fornasetti's entire output, from paintings to draw-ings, from graphic art to furniture, from design objects to installations, right up to the contemporary works of his son Barnaba.
    2019
    Anj Smith: The Mountain of the Muse
    Fornasetti collaborates with the English artist Anj Smith, who engages creatively with some of the Atelier's iconic pieces. The collection is presented for the first time, on the occasion of MiArt, at the Poldi Pezzoli Mu-seum in Milan.
    2019
    Carlo dell'Acqua: S/Oggetti Parziali
    A bold challenge, almost a provocation: at the invitation of Barnaba Fornasetti, the artist Carlo Dell'Acqua manipulates, smashes up and then recreates the female face portrayed on the porcelain plates of the Tema e Variazioni series, giving them a new life.
    2019
    Fornasetti Cult
    With the aim of building a space that is always open to the imagination, Fornasetti sets up a non-profit asso-ciation to launch projects and initiatives of an artistic nature. Its first initiatives include the poetry events Pa-role Urbane.
    2020 - 2021
    Fornasetti Theatrum Mundi
    The dialogue between the architecture and artworks of the Complesso Monumentale della Pilotta in Parma and the imagination of Fornasetti creates a true "theatre of the world": a network of iconographic references and cultural suggestions to inspire new interpretations.
    2020
    Eroica: Beethoven and Bonaparte
    Fornasetti invites three illustrious scholars to investigate the connection between Beethoven and Napoleon. The result is a volume of critical essays accompanied by a CD containing the Eroica Symphony, performed by the Silete Venti! orchestra and directed by Simone Toni.
    2016
    FORNASETTI GOES ON STAGE
    Under the artistic direction of Barnaba, Fornasetti produces an opera, The rake punished or Don Giovanni by W.A. Mozart with a libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte, performed for the first time in Italy in its original version.
    1951-1952
    "TOTAL LOOK" INTERIORS
    Working with Gio Ponti, he creates the first complete interior design for Casa Lucano. He furnishes and decorates a first class cabin of the Andrea Doria ocean liner. He exhibits the Architettura trumeau at the IX Triennale di Milano.
    1958
    THE METAPHYSICAL ROOM
    He concludes and presents the Metaphysical Room, a work composed of thirty-two decorative panels each 3 metres high, which can be arranged in various ways to form a space for meditation. It is his first example of installation art.