Nostalgia for the Future in Post-war Artistic Fabrics

In the nineteen hundreds, art, fashion and textile design intermingled and fed each other ideas, tones and styles that could be expressed through the new materials created by industry or discovered by experimenting in ateliers. A number of events helped them exchange ideas and grow, ﬁrst the Monza Biennale expos (1923-1930), followed by the Milan Triennale expos (from 1933 on), where artists and architects highlighted the need to give the decorative arts a function, a concept that is now considered an integral part of a design. This principle began to be applied in the post-war period when, as part of the necessary reconstruction, the reorganisation of Italian industry and ﬂourishing arts movement led to interesting interactions between art, fashion and design. The IX to XI Triennale events in the Fifties served as crucial testing ground for artists and designers: Lucio Fontana, Bruno Munari, Roberto Crippa, Piero Dorazio, Gianni Dova, Fede Cheti, Fausto Melotti, Gio Ponti and Ettore Sottsass participated in the competitions that textile companies organised, presenting their designs – patterns for fabric prints – in a variety of colour schemes for clothing and upholstery in the modern home. Cultural events and initiatives like Carlo Cardazzo’s at Galleria del Cavallino in Venice, with special edition silk scarves designed by artists – wearable works of art – and tapestries – works of art for the home – bear witness to the mentality of applying aesthetics to daily life. In this section, the scarves of Edmondo Bacci, Giuseppe Capogrossi, Massimo Campigli, Roberto Crippa, Lucio Fontana, Bruno Saetti, Franco Gentilini, Emilio Scanavino and Marino Marini interact with the tapestries of Alfredo Chighine, Enrico Bordoni, Atanasio Soldati, Silvano Bozzolini and Guido Marussig, textile art that reﬂects the concept of Total Art embraced in those years.

[photo: Lucio Fontana, Galaxy, 1955, 100% cotton velvet, hand-printed produced by Manifattura Jsa. Busto Arsizio (Varese), Collezione Branchini-Grampa]

Post Views: 770