“In rediscovering the sensuality of materials, the
human variable generates uniqueness, an eclectic privilege in the midst of the
digital age.”
Milano: Furoi Salone 2016 – Fornasetti - Tema e
Variazioni – The First Series 1 - 100 – Book Launch. An intimate gathering of
friends, intellectuals, artists, architects, designers and press where invited to Casa Fornasetti, for the book
launch of Tema e Variazioni – The First Series 1 – 100. The exquisite limited edition (one hundred), entirely
handmade, printed with the first 100 illustrations from the series “Tema e
Variazioni” (Theme and Variations) designed by Piero Fornasetti, with texts by
Barnaba Fornasetti, Gio Ponti, Albert Manguel and Glenn O'Brien. The book depicts the iconic timeless face of
Lina Cavalieri, an opera singer who lived between the 19th and 20th centuries
and who was considered “the most beautiful woman in the world”. Today Barnaba Fornasetti is
perpetuating the Fornasetti’s tradition by continuing to produce and revive his
father’s work the variations on the theme are almost 400.
Above. Barnaba Fornasetti, Miro Silvera, Jean
Blanchard and Pas Leccese.
photograph courtesy Fornasetti
Fornasetti - Tema e Variazioni – The First Series 1
– 100
The first 100 variations of the iconic Lina
Cavalieri’s face become a limited edition collectors’ book, entirely printed
and bound by hand. Printing and publishing are part of Fornasetti’s identity
since the beginning. For this special project Fornasetti has decided to work
collectively with experts who represent the epitome of Italian craftsmanship.
The printer Rodolfo Campi
Nigel Coates and Davina Weir-Willats
Marco Arosio and Francesca Ballini Richards
Casa Fornasetti
Cheeses
Stefano Raimondi
Marco Cendron, Angela Rui and Michele Lupi
Almond
Brittle
Fornasetti - Tema e Variazioni – The First Series 1
– 100
Lina Cavalieri a true archetype: resembling a Greek statue, was the quintessential image of classical beauty, as enigmatic as the Mona Lisa
and perfectly suited to Piero Fornasetti’s creativity. What inspired
Fornasetti’s devotion and triggered his spontaneous, inexhaustible imagination
was not so much the singer’s fame as the formal, artistic magnetism of her
face. This portrait became Fornasetti’s fundamental and most enduring motif.
The bookbinder - Cristina Balbiano. Each volume consists in 100 illustrations
printed on cotton paper using a hand press and it’s bound by hand and
accompanied by text in monotype typography. The original brass matrices,
engraved using the vintage technique of etching, become a component of the
cover, giving each book a different appearance.
Valeria Manzi
Andrea Delle Case
Mobile Fagiolino - 1940 - designed by Gio Ponti
Hand-decorated by Piero Fornasetti - Fontana Arte
In the Sitting Room - Gianluigi Ricuperati
Mirror at Casa Fornasetti - Stefania Fersini
Barnaba Fornasetti also hosted "Mirror” a
site-specific installation by artist Stefania Fersini, of a concave painting of
the actual sitting room, a true trompe-l’oeil discreetly hung amongst the other
mirrors.
Stefania Fersini
The Grey Pussycat