Piero Fornasetti ─ Practical Madness

An extensive illustrated survey of one of the most inventive design minds of the twentieth century. Combining whimsy and elegance, Piero Fornasetti transformed everyday objects like cups, scarves, and plates into much sought-after works of art with his idiosyncratic motifs, such as the hand, the female face, and luminescent fish. His dazzling pieces of trompe l’oeil furniture, created in collaboration with Gio Ponti, are also highly prized by collectors worldwide.
Fornasetti’s boundless imagination is celebrated here in a book published to document a major retrospective exhibition at the Musee des Arts Decoratifs in Paris. The first half of the monograph is organized by type and includes Fornasetti’s paintings, drawings, and furniture. The second half focuses on favorite themes: his use of trompe l’oeil, architectural drawings, and his variations on the face of a famous operatic beauty. Featuring 400 illustrations covering almost fifty years of a protean and prolific designer and artist like no other, this is a must-have for Fornasetti connoisseurs and anyone interested in design.

Patrick Mauries is a writer, publisher, and collector. He is the author ofFornasetti: Designer of Dreams and Cabinets of Curiosities. Ginevra Quadrio Curzio is a cultural critic who has written extensively for Europe’s leading publications, includingIl Foglio and Il Sole 24 Ore. Barnaba Fornasetti is a designer. He oversees his father’s archives.Olivier Gabet is the museum director of the Musee des Arts decoratifs and one of the curators behind the musuem's exhibit on Fornasetti.