Animalarium: ceramic

Showing posts with label ceramic. Show all posts

Sunday, March 9, 2014

The Birds & the Flowers

via Agence Eureka

Warm rays of sun, birdsongs and flowers everywhere...

what a wonderful Sunday to hang around in the garden

Carlos Merida, The Bird, 1947, via 50 Watts

János Kass

Károly Reich

L. Mironov, De naykrasche mіstse sul zemlі?, 1973

John Alcorn

Geninne

Saturday, March 1, 2014

Life Studies

This year it seems to me that time is flying faster than usual; March is already here

and I am left wondering where February has gone... Unfortunately, this also means

that I won't have the time to visit the beautiful exhibition of Felice Tosalli which ends

next week at the Galleria dell'Incisione in Brescia. One more reason to thank

the gallery's owner and curator Chiara Padova for sending me the catalogue

and these pics to enjoy and share with you!

The talented Italian artist Felice Tosalli (1883-1958) was among the many artists

who turned their interest to animal themes during the late 19th and early 20th century.

He was born in Valsesia, an Alpine valley that was also the birthplace of my paternal grandfather,

and learned to master his father's woodworking craft as an apprentice in his workshop.

After completing his studies in Turin, in 1903 Tosalli moved to Paris and found employment

in a wood restoration shop. In Paris he often visited the Ménagerie du Jardin des Plantes

to observe and sketch the captive animals. His precise and careful study of animal bodies and gestures

is obviously the source of the elegant drawings and preparatory sketches on show at the gallery,

and of the wonderfully lifelike poses of his sculptures.

In 1907 Tosalli went back to Turin, where he worked as a movie poster artist

and as a lithographer and illustrator at Fratelli Doyen. He also began to participate

in art exhibitions and receive commissions, mostly in the field of wooden sculpture.

In the late 1920's Tosalli began to produce a series of limited edition animal figurines

in ceramic for the famous Italian company Lenci, and later for Rosenthal and C.

These small works are still much appreciated by collectors for their refinement,

attention to detail, and ability to capture the spontaneous beauty of animal life.

Sunday, October 6, 2013

Giò Ponti was one of the most productive and eclectically creative Italian designers of the 20th century.
He was born in Milan in 1891, and after serving as a captain in WWI, graduated in architecture in 1921.
His long career never slowed down until his death in 1979, and his love of design found expression
in many different arenas, from large-scale architectural projects, including Milan's first skyscraper,
to the creation of decorative objects, fabric and furniture, to the founding and editing of the innovative
and still influential Domus magazine. The range of his activities also included industrial design,
painting, interior decoration, poetry, teaching and lecturing.

Richard Ginori, 1920s

Ponti designed a vast array of objects in collaboration with some of the best craftsmen of his time,

and animal subjects were explored in different periods, utilizing various media and styles.

From 1923 to 1930 he was the artistic director of the porcelain manufacturer Richard Ginori,

and revolutionized the company's output with new product lines featuring simple ceramic forms

decorated with elegant neo-classical motifs. Under his direction the company won the Grand Prix

at the Exposition Internationale des Arts Decoratifs et Industriels Modernes in 1925.

Richard Ginori, 1920s

Richard Ginori, ca. 1925

Richard Ginori, 1930

Richard Ginori, 1930s

Fornasetti chair prototype

In 1940 Ponti met another eclectic and productive Italian designer, Pietro Fornasetti,
and they began a long period of collaboration.

Fornasetti table, 1950

Fornasetti desk, 1950s

Giò Ponti and Paolo De Poli

During the 1940s Ponti also worked with Paolo De Poli, master copper enamelist, on furniture and decorative panels,

and in the 1950s the two produced a series of objects and animal sculptures together.

Ponti was a prolific draughtsman, and the animal figures first took shape as quick sketches.
De Poli took these flat forms and turned them into freestanding objects by cutting
and folding them as if they were made out of paper.