GEM issue
aRUDE comment
ONLINE content
ARBITERS
Value Added Paul Wilmot interview by Idris Mignott
Sexy Haute Damaris Evans interview by Kathryn Cullen
The Gem Weaver Mish Tworkowski interview by Alan L. Scott
BEAUTY
Napoleon Complex photography by Jamie Nelson
Naked Ambition Joanne Gair interview by Dale Johnson
A Girl's Best Friend photography by Andrew Matusik
BON APPETIT
Questions for Annisa's Anita Lo
Questions for Indochine's Jean-Marc Houmard
FASHION
Portrait of a Lady Carolina Herrera interview by Iké Udé
Wicked Ways photography by Iké Udé
Dangerous Liasons photography by Simone Falcetta
Madame X photography by Iké Udé
KULTURE & ART CINEMA
Saint Richard of Celluloid Richard Pena interview by Brandon Judell
He Can Bark in French Robin Williams interview by Brandon Judell
No Botox For Her Mena Suvari interview by Brandon Judell
No Cock & Bull for Him Michael Winterbottom interview by Brandon Judell
OFF THE WALL THE COLOR OF MONEY
Franco Maria Bruccoleri
REVIEW
aRUDE Comment by Iké Udé
Telescope A close-up of the stars, notables, scenesters and picturesque dilettantes
ARCHITECTURE & DESIGN
Renaissance Man Barnaba Fornasetti interview by Iké Udé
STYLE
Element of Style aRUDE's template for style
aRUDE comment
gem_issue_bfornasetti.php
ONLINE content
ARBITERS
Value Added Paul Wilmot interview by Idris Mignott
Sexy Haute Damaris Evans interview by Kathryn Cullen
The Gem Weaver Mish Tworkowski interview by Alan L. Scott
BEAUTY
Napoleon Complex photography by Jamie Nelson
Naked Ambition Joanne Gair interview by Dale Johnson
A Girl's Best Friend photography by Andrew Matusik
BON APPETIT
Questions for Annisa's Anita Lo
Questions for Indochine's Jean-Marc Houmard
FASHION
Portrait of a Lady Carolina Herrera interview by Iké Udé
Wicked Ways photography by Iké Udé
Dangerous Liasons photography by Simone Falcetta
Madame X photography by Iké Udé
KULTURE & ART CINEMA
Saint Richard of Celluloid Richard Pena interview by Brandon Judell
He Can Bark in French Robin Williams interview by Brandon Judell
No Botox For Her Mena Suvari interview by Brandon Judell
No Cock & Bull for Him Michael Winterbottom interview by Brandon Judell
OFF THE WALL THE COLOR OF MONEY
Franco Maria Bruccoleri
REVIEW
aRUDE Comment by Iké Udé
Telescope A close-up of the stars, notables, scenesters and picturesque dilettantes
ARCHITECTURE & DESIGN
Renaissance Man Barnaba Fornasetti interview by Iké Udé
STYLE
Element of Style aRUDE's template for style
Barnaba Fornasetti renaissance man
interview Iké Udé
photograph courtesy of Barnaba Fornasetti click image to enlarge Barnaba Fornasetti succeeded his father in their business and is now one of the foremost design houses in the world with a boutique at Barney's.
Iké Udé: How did the career your father is famous for begin?
Barnaba Fornasetti: The merit of my father's discovery goes to the great architect Gio Ponti who introduced my father's work in the applied arts.
Iké: What has been your creative contribution to the company since your father's death?
BF: My contribution has been to develop his creative style, respecting his basic formula, and trying to keep the work alive without entering into the mass market. [The mixing of] mass market and fashion can be very seductive, but it is also very dangerous for a brand that is so sophisticated and special…I like to remain independent; I do not like the idea of being in the competition of the market. And Fornasetti collectors do not like big series of products; they like to be exclusive. It is wrong to call Fornasetti a "brand"; it is more a creative method. Fornasetti does not make products, but works of art -- decorative art, but very sophisticated.
Fornesetti has licensing companies producing objects that are not possible to make in the atelier, like fabrics, ties and headscarves, lamps, tiles, jewelry, and umbrellas. But in Milan, the small [Fornasetti] atelier is still going as it was in the '50s and '60s, manufacturing re-editions and re-inventions.
You cannot imagine how difficult is for the artisans to survive in Italy. The middle age of these people supplying my company and living in the North Italian area is between 50 and 60 years old. Their sons do not want to dirty their hands; they prefer to work with computers. So many incredible skills are going to disappear. Sooner or later it will be impossible to continue this handicraft of precious historical pieces.
Iké: Do you take artistic liberties in your work or do you conform strictly to your father's template of things?
BF: My contribution is more focused on designing new shapes and new materials but sometimes also new decorative motifs. The archive of images is huge and full of themes that can be developed. But I’m always careful to respect the tradition that is part of the Fornasetti identity. Piero Fornasetti used to say: "I hate the idea to be classified in one period, or style. I'm not a designer from the '50s. I'm a Renaissance man – out of fashion, period, or location."
Iké: How do you define and negotiate the tenuous notion of elegance in our age? And what do you think is the percentage of women who care to practice that fine discipline of elegance in our time?
CH: I think it is a very small percentage. There is very little elegance in our age. And the alienating circumstance is, I think, that most people strive in one way or another to achieve elegance.
Iké: Can you elaborate on some of the themes and variations of the Fornasetti house?
BF: The house is full of the typical themes and, of course, the variations that do not consist only in the face of the woman but also in many others: butterflies, musical instruments, books, playing cards, cats, trompe l'oeil….
BF: He found her face while glancing through a French magazine from the 19th century: her name was Lina Cavalieri and she was a fin de siècle courtesan. Fornasetti gave free play to his imagination to the point that most of his work is based on endless variations of several themes. The most famous work is the one that Fornasetti himself called "Theme and Variations" that was published in a tiny, precious book representing the enigmatic face of a woman – Lina Cavalieri. Perhaps he chose this face for its archetypal, classic female features -- like a Greek statue, and enigmatic like the Mona Lisa; she was perfect to be molded into the idea Fornasetti had in his mind.
Iké: You have such an extraordinary abode in Milan. What are your favorite rooms and why?
BF: I like to use every room in the same way. If I have something to do, like reading a book or writing a letter, it can be done in the living room or in the bedroom, or at the same time at the kitchen's table or in the toilette. I like to change everyday.
Iké: How often, if at all, would you do a total or partial redecoration of, say, a room or two?
BF: The house is very alive, always changing or, better, evolving in relation to the activity that is going on at any particular moment. In some cases it changes for a practical reason, in others, for aesthetic choices.
Iké: How much has changed in the décor and overall aesthetics of the house since 1988?
BF: It has changed a lot, in part because the atelier moved to another place in the neighborhood. Part of the house is Betony’s studio, part is our residential home, and another part is for the office and archive, and the creative studio. The part occupied by my mother, who is still alive at 95 years old, is exactly the same as it was in 1950. The recent big modification was made to create the guest apartment last year.
Iké: You have an enormous vinyl record collection. Is it an obsession, a passion of sorts, or…?
BF: It is something like a "hobby", a collection that started in the '60s when I managed an underground music magazine. I still like the vinyl but it is now more difficult to find so I have converted to digital and I listen also to CDs. I still love records because they are warmer from a human point of view, and they are more practical for a deejay, which is one of my passions. I think that my father in a certain way was a precursor of the modern musician. He mixed different styles to create a new style. In the design field this happened later than in the music field, except for Fornasetti.
Iké: What led to the conception of the Téte-a-Téte collection and what is its objective?
BF: These pieces are intended for intimate conversation. Their designer, Nigel Coates, wants people to sit on the chairs comfortably and provocatively, to be struck by the glow on the face of the person opposite, to watch their lips move, and hang on their every word. For these vases, glasses, lights, and low chairs, Coates reworks the Fornasetti language - combining iconic images with surfaces, playing with the status of the object, and reworking scale and context. Coates second-guesses what Piero Fornasetti's 21st century themes might be with his own digital body scans and graphically treated photo-portraits, as if to reinterpret the classic Fornasetti Adam and Eve images.
This collection is the company's first collaboration with an architect since Piero's work with Gio Ponti, and the idea is to start new collaborations with other designers as well. I have in fact recently started digitizing all the archive so it will be much easier to consult and several new talents will be able to do it; it is a big job.
photograph courtesy of Barnaba Fornasetti click image to enlarge Iké: Vintage Fornasetti abounds. Where can one find these vintages?
BF: The antique Fornasetti market is very alive and it is possible to find pieces at auction houses, at antique dealers, markets, fairs, and also on E-bay. But be very careful as there are some misunderstandings about incorrect attributions and dates. Always consult us before buying something. I try to clarify all doubts through my website www.fornasetti.com in a special section called "vintage".
Iké: Do you find any comparisons or contrasts between Fornasetti's philosophy and, say, the Victorian, William Morris?
BF: My father found the Arts & Crafts period to be decadent and it was not exactly his source of inspiration since he was a rationalist, although extremely decorative. Still, there are aspects of the Fornasetti experience that can be compared to Arts & Crafts.
Iké: Who are the contemporary design talents that you most admire and why?
BF: My consideration goes to the designers who try to bring out artisan handicraft with more attention for man’s spirit and not for machine technology. So much of contemporary design is at the service of big industry -- something that I think is killing us, and our planet. There are so many industrial products. We do not need more of these. We need to design surfaces, to put decoration on already existing surfaces. Decoration is something that can help us to find the pleasure of living and positive messages. I love the research of Ugo La Pietra around Italian traditional culture. I hate the excess of research on the modern; modernity is only an illusion.
Iké: Is there any particular hotel or private house that has stirred you?
BF: I remember the hotel "Casa Frollo" in the Giudecca Island in Venice. It is an incredible fascinating old palace with few very large rooms. It was full of history, and you could feel the presence of the many important personalities who were hosted there. It was managed by a family that now has stopped the business and nobody has replaced them. It's really a pity.
Iké: What are your plans for the future?
BF: The new idea of collaboration, oriented to design decoration, not products -- to create places where you can feel the sensation of the Fornasetti atmosphere.
interview Iké Udé
photograph courtesy of Barnaba Fornasetti click image to enlarge Barnaba Fornasetti succeeded his father in their business and is now one of the foremost design houses in the world with a boutique at Barney's.
Iké Udé: How did the career your father is famous for begin?
Barnaba Fornasetti: The merit of my father's discovery goes to the great architect Gio Ponti who introduced my father's work in the applied arts.
Iké: What has been your creative contribution to the company since your father's death?
BF: My contribution has been to develop his creative style, respecting his basic formula, and trying to keep the work alive without entering into the mass market. [The mixing of] mass market and fashion can be very seductive, but it is also very dangerous for a brand that is so sophisticated and special…I like to remain independent; I do not like the idea of being in the competition of the market. And Fornasetti collectors do not like big series of products; they like to be exclusive. It is wrong to call Fornasetti a "brand"; it is more a creative method. Fornasetti does not make products, but works of art -- decorative art, but very sophisticated.
Fornesetti has licensing companies producing objects that are not possible to make in the atelier, like fabrics, ties and headscarves, lamps, tiles, jewelry, and umbrellas. But in Milan, the small [Fornasetti] atelier is still going as it was in the '50s and '60s, manufacturing re-editions and re-inventions.
You cannot imagine how difficult is for the artisans to survive in Italy. The middle age of these people supplying my company and living in the North Italian area is between 50 and 60 years old. Their sons do not want to dirty their hands; they prefer to work with computers. So many incredible skills are going to disappear. Sooner or later it will be impossible to continue this handicraft of precious historical pieces.
Iké: Do you take artistic liberties in your work or do you conform strictly to your father's template of things?
BF: My contribution is more focused on designing new shapes and new materials but sometimes also new decorative motifs. The archive of images is huge and full of themes that can be developed. But I’m always careful to respect the tradition that is part of the Fornasetti identity. Piero Fornasetti used to say: "I hate the idea to be classified in one period, or style. I'm not a designer from the '50s. I'm a Renaissance man – out of fashion, period, or location."
Iké: How do you define and negotiate the tenuous notion of elegance in our age? And what do you think is the percentage of women who care to practice that fine discipline of elegance in our time?
CH: I think it is a very small percentage. There is very little elegance in our age. And the alienating circumstance is, I think, that most people strive in one way or another to achieve elegance.
Iké: Can you elaborate on some of the themes and variations of the Fornasetti house?
BF: The house is full of the typical themes and, of course, the variations that do not consist only in the face of the woman but also in many others: butterflies, musical instruments, books, playing cards, cats, trompe l'oeil….
So much of contemporary design is at the service of big industry --
something that I think is killing us, and our planet.
Iké: Tell me a little about
"the face of the woman" -- your father's muse?
BF: He found her face while glancing through a French magazine from the 19th century: her name was Lina Cavalieri and she was a fin de siècle courtesan. Fornasetti gave free play to his imagination to the point that most of his work is based on endless variations of several themes. The most famous work is the one that Fornasetti himself called "Theme and Variations" that was published in a tiny, precious book representing the enigmatic face of a woman – Lina Cavalieri. Perhaps he chose this face for its archetypal, classic female features -- like a Greek statue, and enigmatic like the Mona Lisa; she was perfect to be molded into the idea Fornasetti had in his mind.
Iké: You have such an extraordinary abode in Milan. What are your favorite rooms and why?
BF: I like to use every room in the same way. If I have something to do, like reading a book or writing a letter, it can be done in the living room or in the bedroom, or at the same time at the kitchen's table or in the toilette. I like to change everyday.
Iké: How often, if at all, would you do a total or partial redecoration of, say, a room or two?
BF: The house is very alive, always changing or, better, evolving in relation to the activity that is going on at any particular moment. In some cases it changes for a practical reason, in others, for aesthetic choices.
Iké: How much has changed in the décor and overall aesthetics of the house since 1988?
BF: It has changed a lot, in part because the atelier moved to another place in the neighborhood. Part of the house is Betony’s studio, part is our residential home, and another part is for the office and archive, and the creative studio. The part occupied by my mother, who is still alive at 95 years old, is exactly the same as it was in 1950. The recent big modification was made to create the guest apartment last year.
Iké: You have an enormous vinyl record collection. Is it an obsession, a passion of sorts, or…?
BF: It is something like a "hobby", a collection that started in the '60s when I managed an underground music magazine. I still like the vinyl but it is now more difficult to find so I have converted to digital and I listen also to CDs. I still love records because they are warmer from a human point of view, and they are more practical for a deejay, which is one of my passions. I think that my father in a certain way was a precursor of the modern musician. He mixed different styles to create a new style. In the design field this happened later than in the music field, except for Fornasetti.
Iké: What led to the conception of the Téte-a-Téte collection and what is its objective?
BF: These pieces are intended for intimate conversation. Their designer, Nigel Coates, wants people to sit on the chairs comfortably and provocatively, to be struck by the glow on the face of the person opposite, to watch their lips move, and hang on their every word. For these vases, glasses, lights, and low chairs, Coates reworks the Fornasetti language - combining iconic images with surfaces, playing with the status of the object, and reworking scale and context. Coates second-guesses what Piero Fornasetti's 21st century themes might be with his own digital body scans and graphically treated photo-portraits, as if to reinterpret the classic Fornasetti Adam and Eve images.
This collection is the company's first collaboration with an architect since Piero's work with Gio Ponti, and the idea is to start new collaborations with other designers as well. I have in fact recently started digitizing all the archive so it will be much easier to consult and several new talents will be able to do it; it is a big job.
photograph courtesy of Barnaba Fornasetti click image to enlarge Iké: Vintage Fornasetti abounds. Where can one find these vintages?
BF: The antique Fornasetti market is very alive and it is possible to find pieces at auction houses, at antique dealers, markets, fairs, and also on E-bay. But be very careful as there are some misunderstandings about incorrect attributions and dates. Always consult us before buying something. I try to clarify all doubts through my website www.fornasetti.com in a special section called "vintage".
Iké: Do you find any comparisons or contrasts between Fornasetti's philosophy and, say, the Victorian, William Morris?
BF: My father found the Arts & Crafts period to be decadent and it was not exactly his source of inspiration since he was a rationalist, although extremely decorative. Still, there are aspects of the Fornasetti experience that can be compared to Arts & Crafts.
Iké: Who are the contemporary design talents that you most admire and why?
BF: My consideration goes to the designers who try to bring out artisan handicraft with more attention for man’s spirit and not for machine technology. So much of contemporary design is at the service of big industry -- something that I think is killing us, and our planet. There are so many industrial products. We do not need more of these. We need to design surfaces, to put decoration on already existing surfaces. Decoration is something that can help us to find the pleasure of living and positive messages. I love the research of Ugo La Pietra around Italian traditional culture. I hate the excess of research on the modern; modernity is only an illusion.
Iké: Is there any particular hotel or private house that has stirred you?
BF: I remember the hotel "Casa Frollo" in the Giudecca Island in Venice. It is an incredible fascinating old palace with few very large rooms. It was full of history, and you could feel the presence of the many important personalities who were hosted there. It was managed by a family that now has stopped the business and nobody has replaced them. It's really a pity.
Iké: What are your plans for the future?
BF: The new idea of collaboration, oriented to design decoration, not products -- to create places where you can feel the sensation of the Fornasetti atmosphere.
