POLISHING A TRADITION

Italian furniture is getting new respect for its contributions to the 
decorative arts.

By Kathy Bryant
Special to the Los Angeles Times
November 8, 2001

"Italians have always taken their furniture for granted," says Fausto 
Calderai, historian of Italian furniture from Florence, Italy. "Furniture was 
considered nice but a minor art form, not a superior one like painting or 
sculpture. Since the decorative arts were everywhere, they weren't seen as 
that important."

This despite the fact that the world auction furniture record is for a piece 
of Italian furniture: $15.18 million for the so-called Badminton Cabinet, 
circa 1725, at Christie's London in 1990. 

Calderai will lecture on Italian furniture Nov. 17, at an all-day seminar 
titled "The Grand Tradition of Italian Furniture, 1550-1900" at the Los 
Angeles County Museum of Art.

Things are changing in the field of historic Italian decorative arts, 
Calderai says. "In the last year, some scholarly books have been written and 
documents have been translated about Italian furniture, so now it's seen as 
more important. There are several things to remember when looking at Italian 
furniture. The aspect of sculpture in it is vital. It was never designed just 
for function as much Anglo-Saxon furniture was. Beauty was always necessary. 
And the furniture is always tied to the architecture of the time." Martin 
Chapman, curator of European decorative arts at LACMA, agrees that interest 
is growing in Italian furniture. "Even the Parisian dealers are starting to 
sell it," he says, laughing. "What makes Italian furniture so interesting is 
that different regions had different responses to its design from the 
Renaissance through the 19th century. Unlike French furniture, which follows 
a strict program, Italians did whatever they wanted to. I think we respond to 
that exuberance."

Calderai gives examples of this diversity: the great artistic freedom of 18th 
century furniture from Turin, the Medici influence in Renaissance Florence, 
Baroque furniture in both Rome and Florence, and 18th century Venetian 
furniture that incorporated ideas from all over the world. "It would be 
difficult to consider any Italian furniture provincial," he says.

In addition to the talk by Calderai, the seminar will feature a tour of 
LACMA's Italian furniture collection, conducted by Chapman. "Among others, 
we'll see two pieces from 18th century Turin, one by Pietro Piffetti (circa 
1700 to circa 1777) who is arguably the greatest cabinetmaker in 18th century 
Italy," he says. 

Also at the seminar, Catherine Hess, associate curator of decorative arts at 
the J. Paul Getty Museum, will lecture on 19th century Italian furniture and 
take attendees on a walk-through of the Getty collection in Brentwood.

Registration for the seminar before Nov. 17 is $60; $50 for Decorative Arts 
Council members; $75 at LACMA on the day of the event. A box lunch is 
included. Call (323) 857-6528 for more information.
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