Mariano Fortuny y Madrazo,(May 11, 1871–May 3, 1949), son of the painter Mariano Fortuny y Marsal, was a Spanish fashion designer who opened his couture house in 1906 and continued until 1946.
Fortuny was born to an artistic family in Granada, Spain. His father, a genre painter, died when Fortuny was three years old and his mother moved the family to Paris, France. It became apparent at a young age that Fortuny was a talented artist, as he, too, showed a talent for painting. The family moved again in 1889 to Venice. As a young man, Fortuny traveled throughout Europe seeking out artists he admired, among them the German composer Richard Wagner. Fortuny became quite varied in his talents, some of them including painting, photography, sculpting, architecture, etching and even theatrical stage lighting. In 1897, he met the woman he would marry, Henriette Negrin, in Paris.
He died in his home in Venice and was buried in the Campo di Verano cemetery in Rome. His work was a source of inspiration to the french novelist Marcel Proust.[1],[2]
The life of the Fortuny saga has been depicted in Pere Gimferrer's novel "Fortuny".
Fortuny his Palazzo
Nowadays the Museum Fortuny is housed in the Venezian-Gothic Palazzo, the former home, studio, showroom and "Think-Tank" of Mariano Fortuny (1871-1949) who acquired it at the beginning of the century. Fortuny invented in his Palazzo the Delphos gown, a gown based on the ancient Grecian style; and the Knossos Scarf, a silk scarf also inspired by this civilization. Fortuny also created new methods of dying textiles and well as ways of printing on fabrics. He created the Fortuny cyclorama dome, a stage lighting innovation that could be used to create lighting effects such as a bright sky or a faint dusk; and the Fortuny lamp, for indoor lighting. He also is remembered for his brightly coloured pleated gowns. He was an eclectic art-collector of everyday objects and works of art derived from every phase of artistic evolution and a organizer of lectures, concerts and discussions. The Museum and the City of Venice organized in 2007 the exhibition Artempo, following the spirit from Fortuny and the Palazzo as a "Laboratory of Ideas". In 2009 the Museum organized a second exhibition titled In-Finitum.
External links
References
- Fortuny.it
- Fortunylamps.com
- Fortuny.com
- Encyclopedia Britannica
- Art Nouveau
- Design within Reach
- Article about Fortuny
- SARAH FERRELL; (1991-07-28). "SHOPPER'S WORLD; In the Footsteps of Fortuny, Rich Venetian Fabrics". New York Times. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D0CE2DA1E3AF93BA15754C0A967958260&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=all. Retrieved 2008-08-14.
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