For Piero Fornasetti, a single idea was inspiration enough to spawn
endless variations of an image and in 1952 he began work on what would
become his most iconic series: Tema e Variazion (theme and variations) –
a portrait of Lina Cavalieri — an opera singer who lived between the
19th and 20th centuries, considered to be ‘the most beautiful woman in
the world’
On the occasion of Milan Design Week, Fornasetti has
published ‘Tema e Variazion, a limited edition volume containing the
first 100 illustrations from Piero Fornasetti’s collection.
The
book has been entirely handmade, and is limited to 100 singed and
numbered copies by Piero’s son Barnaba. Barnaba revives, perpetuates,
and pays homage to his father’s work and this series, while introducing
the brand’s renewed endeavor into the publishing world — a sector that
has been part of the Fornasetti history since its inception.
Each of
the 100 illustrations is printed on cotton paper using a hand press, and
are accompanied by text in monotype typography. Writings by Barnaba
Fornasetti, Gio Ponti, Alberto Manguel and Glenn O’brien describe the
series.
