Mendofleur

These postcards represent the beauty and magical essence of the town in Italy, Venice, where Mariano Fortuny created his incredible textiles.

Mariano Fortuny was born in Granada, Spain on May 11, 1871.  His father had been trained as a painter, but after his early death, his wife moved with her two children to Paris, France.   After a brief stay there she moved permanently to Venice, Italy.  Mariano chose an artistic path as his father had done and became a painter.  Eventually he focused on textiles, one of many artistic endeavors.  “His fabrics were themselves conceived as paintings: dyed in successive layers of colours to create interplays of light, printed and retouched by hand with the aid of a paintbrush and other instruments, each roll possessed unique textures and patterns that were never repeated.”  Fortuny: The life and work of Marino Fortuny by Guillermo De Osma Pg. 21.

His textiles were “based on designs borrowed from the Renaissance and Byzantium, from the Arabs, Persians, Copts, and Indians and from the golden age of Flanders and ancient Greece.”  Fortuny by Anne-Marie Deschodt and Doretta Davanzo Poli. Pg. 79

The cover of the book as referenced above features Fortuny’s famous silk pleated Delphos dresses.

Some of his other printed and painted textiles.

This textile above is the reason for my focus on Fortuny.  For years I have admired his life and work and read almost everything published in English that I could find.  Over the years as a dealer in antique textiles, I found bits and pieces of his fabrics, and when I did the price was always steep.  I coveted each piece I added to my collection.  Then yesterday as I was about to leave an antique show I attend several times a year, I spotted the piece above used as a prop to sell a highly prized antique chest.  It was draped through and over the top drawer.  I carefully looked inside for the price and there was one, so I knew it was for sale and within my budget.  The dealer was highly reputable and sold some of the best selection of all the dealers there, so I knew if it was not a Fortuny that it was at least a quality reproduction. I paid the asking price and she explained that she thought the fabric had not been used and was clean.  She had no idea what it was when I asked.  When I returned to my car and could see the selvedge in the daylight I knew I had hit the jackpot.  It was signed: Made in Italy, Mariano Fortuny. Depose and then below this Venezia (Venice).

My guess is this piece might be from the current collection of Fortuny and not one from his pieces that were done while he was still alive as they are still producing his works with his age-old methods.  When I was in Venice  six years ago, I went into one of the shops that sold his textiles and the new pieces were selling for $350.00 (US) per metre.  This textile was the reason I still go and look for treasures even though I no longer am a dealer.

Some of my other minor pieces in my collection are pictured below:

I have only a few small remnants of this piece as shown above.

These are actually two border pieces.

Two border pieces above and below a close-up of one of the other border pieces.

This border piece I find interesting because the only color that Fortuny did not like was yellow, but I am assuming this was chosen later to accommodate a certain clientele after his death.

Another border piece.

Such admiration I have for this artist.  He is worthy of much research in an age of quick solutions and the loss of original craft.  Fortuny will continue to fascinate and be a part of my visual memory, a translation I hope develops in my work as time goes on.