You Can Own a Piece of Fornasetti

The work of Piero Fornasetti, the Milanese artist whose graphic, surrealistic decorations touched everyday objects from dinner plates to lamps and wastebaskets in the ‘50s, will make up the first design sale held at Christie’s Los Angeles.

Since the sales room opened last May, there has been a photography sale, a wine sale and just last month one devoted to California, American and Western paintings. For three years, Christie’s has also held biannual jewelry sales that have been “phenomenally successful,” said Andrea Fiuczynski, a Christie’s vice president and one of its star auctioneers.

But decorative arts is new territory, and Christie’s hopes it’ll be a big one.

“There’s always been a great sense of style in Los Angeles,” especially with the “sheer presence of wonderful interior designers out here,” noted Fiuczynski. The Fornasetti auction, on May 16, should draw them in, she says. “It’s such an eye-catching category.”

Pegging the singular Fornasetti into L.A. seems to be a splashy move. After all, his international appeal means that the sale could take place anywhere. But the company wanted to put L.A. on the map as more than a distant Christie’s outpost.

“We’ve already had tremendous international interest in the sale,” said Fiuczynski. And, besides, Barnaba Fornasetti, Piero’s son, liked the idea.

“I think maybe it’s positive,” Barnaba said by phone from Italy. He too is a designer who runs his late father’s atelier, making new pieces in the original style and remaking pieces from the ‘50s in limited editions. “Beverly Hills is full of glamorous people, people from the cinema, people who can appreciate the work. Someone told me Billy Wilder has some.”

All but one of the auction’s 203 lots belong to Barnaba, and all are originals. “La Stanza Metafisica,” or the metaphysical chamber, a 32-panel lithographically and transfer-printed trompe l’oeil wood screen, is undeniably the most important piece in the sale, with an estimated price of $75,000 to $90,000. It is the property of an unnamed American collector.

Barnaba’s personal favorite, however, is a green faux malachite cabinet, with an estimate of $30,000 to $40,000.

“I love that very much,” he said, partly because his father didn’t work much in that style. ‘It wasn’t very commercial. People don’t appreciate this kind of decoration.”

Why is he parting with the objects--among them, transfer-printed kitchen storage jars ($800 to $1,200 for a group of six), a metal umbrella stand ($700 to $900), a single decorated Venetian blind ($1,500 to $2,500)? Barnaba said he wants to promote the Fornasetti name and to “clarify misunderstandings on the antique market. All dealers think Fornasetti is produced in big series, but it’s not true. He produced only a few pieces a year, not hundreds.”

The pieces will be on view May 11-15.