Fornasetti plates, Tema and variation series

FORNASETTI. Italy, 20th century.
Pair of plates from the series "Tema e variazioni".
Screen-printed ceramic.
With stamp on the base.
Measurements: 26 cm. diameter.

Fornasetti's "Tema e Variazioni" series is one of the most iconic collections of 20th century Italian design, created by Piero Fornasetti based on the face of the soprano Lina Cavalieri, whose image he reinterpreted in hundreds of surreal and poetic versions. The plates, made of white porcelain with black silk-screened illustrations and occasional golden details, present the same face transformed through visual games full of humor, mystery and theatricality: with masks, tears, letters, suns, moons, butterflies or architectural elements. This obsessive repetition of a single motif turned the series into a true symbol of decorative design, where surrealism, neoclassicism and vintage Italian graphics converge.

The Italian firm Fornasetti has its origins in the figure of Piero Fornasetti (1913-1988), an Italian painter, sculptor, interior decorator and engraver. Trained at the Brera Academy in Milan, he was the author of thousands of objects, lighting and furniture pieces with a main decorative theme: the face of the 19th century soprano Lina Cavalieri. He was also known for his expressive use of black and white, as can be seen in the piece presented here, as well as the motif of the sun and other climatological elements. Today his son, Barnaba Fornasetti, continues to create designs for the firm that bears his surname.