Fornasetti Italian Modern 'Citta Di Carta' Folding Screen
View Similar Items
Fornasetti Italian Modern 'Citta Di Carta' Folding Screen
About the Item
- Creator:Fornasetti (Manufacturer)
- Dimensions:Height: 81 in (205.74 cm)Width: 79 in (200.66 cm)Depth: 2 in (5.08 cm)
- Style:Modern (Of the Period)
- Materials and Techniques:
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:Late 20th Century
- Condition:Wear consistent with age and use.
- Seller Location:New York, NY
- Reference Number:Seller: S138XX - 77886 - 06211stDibs: LU889324186292
Fornasetti
The Italian artist, illustrator and furniture maker Piero Fornasetti was one of the wittiest and most imaginative design talents of the 20th century. He crafted an inimitable decorative style from a personal vocabulary of images that included birds, butterflies, hot-air balloons, architecture and — most frequently, and in some 500 variations — an enigmatic woman’s face based on that of the 19th-century opera singer Lina Cavalieri. Fornasetti used transfer prints of these images, rendered in the style of engravings, to decorate an endless variety of furnishings and housewares that ranged from chairs, tables and desks to dinner plates, lamps and umbrella stands. His work is archly clever, often surreal and always fun.
Fornasetti was born in Milan, the son of an accountant, and he lived his entire life in the city. He showed artistic talent as a child and enrolled at Milan’s Brera Academy of Fine Art in 1930, but was expelled after two years for consistently failing to follow his professors’ orders. A group of his hand-painted silk scarves, displayed in the 1933 Triennale di Milano, caught the eye of the architect and designer Gio Ponti, who, in the 1940s, became Fornasetti’s collaborator and patron. Beginning in the early 1950s, they created a striking a series of desks, bureaus and secretaries that pair Ponti’s signature angular forms with Fornasetti’s decorative motifs — lighthearted arrangements of flowers and birds on some pieces, austere architectural imagery on others. The two worked together on numerous commissions for interiors, though their greatest project has been lost: the first-class lounges and restaurants of the luxury ocean liner Andrea Doria, which sank in 1956.
Fornasetti furnishings occupy an unusual and compelling niche in the decorative arts: they are odd yet pack a serious punch. They act, essentially, as functional sculpture. A large Fornasetti piece such as a cabinet or a desk can change the character of an entire room; his smaller works have the aesthetic power of a vase of flowers, providing a bright and alluring decorative note. The chimerical, fish-nor-fowl nature of Fornasetti’s work may be its greatest strength. It stands on its own. Bringing the Fornasetti look into the future is Barnaba Fornasetti, who took the reins of the company after his father's death.
- Mid-Century Modern Teak Three Panel Folding ScreenLocated in New York, NYMid-Century Modern Teak Three Panel Folding Screen, each section with rectangular floating panel inside, reverse with starburst pattern and unique botanical designs, turned supports ...Category
Mid-20th Century Mid-Century Modern Screens and Room Dividers
MaterialsTeak
- American Leather Folding ScreenLocated in New York, NYAmerican three panel folding screen with leather surfacing, circa 1910.Category
Vintage 1910s Screens and Room Dividers
MaterialsLeather
$6,800 Sale Price20% Off - Moroccan Aesthetic Period Summer Fire Screen or Folding ScreenLocated in New York, NYMoroccan Aesthetic period folding screen or fire screen with three panels in carved wood with mother-of-pearl inlay and mashrabiya elements. Made in Morocco during the 1870's. Some l...Category
Antique 1870s Moroccan Aesthetic Movement Screens and Room Dividers
MaterialsMother-of-Pearl, Wood
- Vintage Japanese "Flower Cart" Folding ScreenLocated in New York, NYA traditional style Japanese four panel folding screen depicting a flower cart full of red and white flowers. 10198Category
20th Century Japanese Screens and Room Dividers
- Japanese 4 Panel Folding Screen with Eight SamuraiLocated in New York, NYA Japanese folding screen with four panels depicting eight seated samurai in a structure surrounded by trees on a gold background. 10197Category
Antique 19th Century Japanese Screens and Room Dividers
MaterialsPaper
- Japanese Showa Period Folding Screen with Painted CranesLocated in New York, NYJapanese Showa period four panel folding screen finely painted with a theme of cranes in four elegant positions. The piece is signed and was made in circa 1950 in Japan. In great vi...Category
Vintage 1950s Japanese Showa Paintings and Screens
MaterialsFabric, Wood, Paint
- Splendid Piero Fornasetti folding screenBy Piero FornasettiLocated in Milano, ITPiero Fornasetti (1913-1988) Splendid folding screen with three folding doors in lacquered wood with two-colour silk-screened musical instruments. Fornasetti production, ca. 1950.Category
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Screens and Room Dividers
MaterialsWood
- Italian Folding ScreenLocated in Houston, TXThis six-panel screen borrows from the Roman practice as an homage to the great designers that came before. Ancient roman courtyard houses typically had architectural elements crown ...Category
Early 20th Century Neoclassical Screens and Room Dividers
MaterialsWood, Paper
$5,800 - Four-Panel Folding Screen by Piero FornasettiBy Piero FornasettiLocated in New York, NYLarge Four-Panel Folding Screen or room divider by Piero Fornasetti displaying windmills and a city center. The reverse decorated with an Italian forestscape print.Category
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Screens and Room Dividers
MaterialsMetal
- Fornasetti Don Giovanni Curved Screen, Wood, Handpainted in Italy 21st CenturyBy FornasettiLocated in New York, NYScreens have been a significant part of the Fornasetti artstic production since the founding of the Atelier in the 1950s. Since then, Fornasetti uses screens to redesign spaces throu...Category
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Screens and Room Dividers
MaterialsWood
- Vintage Piero Fornasetti Strumenti Musical or Libri ScreenBy FornasettiLocated in West Palm Beach, FLAn iconic mid-size screen depicting a library shelf on one side and musical instruments on the verso. A period example, circa 1954. Measures: 53 1/2" high.Category
Vintage 1950s Italian Screens and Room Dividers
MaterialsWood
- Mid-Century Modern Folding ScreenLocated in Minneapolis, MNThis four-panel mahogany screen features a kaleidoscopic starburst pattern and folds in both directions at each hinge. Commonly attributed to Edward Wormley.Category
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Screens and Room Dividers
MaterialsMahogany