beauty x 350

Italian designer Piero Fornasetti once quite famously asked of himself: “What inspired me to create more than 500 variations on the face of a woman?” His admittance: “I don’t know, I began to make them and I never stopped.” is almost as charming as the plates themselves.

 

Born in 1913, Piero Fornasetti was a Milanese painter and interior designer. One day he came across an image of the Opera singer Lina Cavalieri in a French, 19th century magazine, looking as enigmatic as the Mona Lisa. This image inspired Fornasetti to create his series of over 350 plates.

Each plate expands on the initial plate as he moves through themes such as illusion, architectural perspectives, the sun, and harlequins. Each plate explores the ideas of classical beauty and the mysteries of femininity. The wistful smile and saucer eyes of Lina Cavalieri engage the viewer through Fornasetti’s distinct black and white graphic style. The look is classic and timeless.

“I do not believe in eras or times. I do not. I refuse to establish the value of things based on time.” Piero Fornasetti