Italian
2852-Sold
Italian
1993-Sold
Italian
2010
Italian
2011
Italian
2044
Italian
2319
Italian
2392
Italian
2393
Italian
3167
Italian
3250-Sold
Italian
3313-Sold
Italian
3318
Italian
3408-Sold
Italian
3409
Italian
3430
Italian
3431
Italian
3878
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
 


2011

Antique Italian Textile. Mariano Fortuny. Cotton Print of Early 15th Century Italian cut Velvet Design
Circa 1900
Mariano Fortuny (1871-1949)

Size 50" x 25"
Size127 x 63cm

This textile was on display in the Chelsea Art Museum in the exhibition Italian Arabia from Dec 9 2008 until Feb.. 25 2009 It is published in the exhibition catalogue pg, 91

Italian Textile
History

Mariano Fortuny Textiles

Mariano Fortuny (1871-1949)
Mariano Fortuny was born in 1871 in the city of Granada, Spain. After his father's death in 1874, the family moved to Paris a year later. Fortuny studied physics and chemistry in Germany. In 1890 he moved to Venice permanently, where he lived and worked most of his life. Fortuny was an artistic genius with an insurmountable curiosity, that led him to pursue various venues and interests all interconnected with the arts. He was as a painter; turned into etching, sculpture, photography, lighting design, theatre direction, set design, architecture, and costume design, and ultimately the creator of extraordinary fabrics and garments. In 1892 he developed a revolutionary, indirect lighting system that transformed bulky stage scenery and obsolete gas lamps, thus, drastically changing the atmosphere onstage. His first theatrical costume was a figure-enveloping, border-printed scarf, titled the Knossos. Isadora Duncan was the first to wear the Knossos scarf. This invention proved to be Fortuny’s initiation to the world of fashion. His knowledge in painting allowed him to experiment with subtle colors creating one-of-a-kind silks and velvets from which he made exquisite gowns. The velvet he used in dresses, jackets, capes, and cloaks to cover his trademark “Delphos” gown; as well as home furnishings. His Delphos gown, was made of pleated silk, simply cut, and hung loosely from the shoulders. It was finished with small Venetian glass beads which had a dual purpose: not only did the beads serve as ornamentation, but also weighed the dress down, allowing it to cling to the contours of the body. He patented and registered his own pleating device in 1909. Between 1901 and 1933 he registered twenty-two patents, all related to garments and printing methods. Mario Fortuny's elegance, simplicity and passion in his fashion design has made his clothes timeless works of art. Mariano Fortuny died in Venice on May 2, 1949.

 

 

   
       
   
 

Back to top
 About Us   Site Map   Textile History   Tell A Friend   Services   Bibliography   Links   Contact us