Piero Fornasetti Porcelain Plate Themes & Variation Pattern 114, Profile, Tema E Variazioni

Description

Piero Fornasetti Porcelain Plate Themes & Variation Pattern,
Pattern 114, Profile,
Tema E Variazioni
(Ref)

The striking Piero Fornasetti dramatic … more Piero Fornasetti Porcelain Plate Themes & Variation Pattern,
Pattern 114, Profile,
Tema E Variazioni
(Ref)

The striking Piero Fornasetti dramatic black and white porcelain plate is printed with a strange depiction of a profile of the face of Lina Cavalieri. While the face is in profile and one half of the plate is black, the right eye looks directly towards the viewer creating a false sense that you are looking at the image face on.

Dimensions: 10 1/4 inches diameter x 1 inch high

Mark: Below an image of an eye- Tema E Variazioni/ Fonasetti. Milano/Made in ITALY.

Reference:
(http://www.fornasetti.com/en/story/temavariazioni/)

The image that inspired Fornasetti to coin the title 'Tema e Variazioni', is the enigmatic face of a woman: the opera singer Lina Cavalieri.

He found that now iconic face as he leafed through a 19th century French magazine and became fascinated. Taking her as much as a muse and as a motif, he would return to Lina Cavalieri's face again and again throughout his career. The archetypal classic female features, and enigmatic expression of Lina Cavalieri became Fornasetti's most frequently used template and upon which he based more than 350 variations.

Lina Cavalieri's face, explained Piero Fornasetti, was another archetype - a quintessentially beautiful and classic image, like a Greek statue, enigmatic like the 'Gioconda' and therefore able to take shape into the idea that was slowly building in his mind. It was this formal, graphic appeal (rather than Lina Cavalieri's celebrity) that demanded such loyalty and inspired the spontaneous and ceaseless creativity of Fornasetti. For him, this face became the ultimate enduring motif. With great modesty all these works were reproduced on a series of everyday objects like the plate. Tema e Variazioni shows its variations playing with one idea. less