Author(s): Paolo Bolpagni

Art

A stunning catalogue on fabric designer Mariano Fortunys Wagnerian experience, a decisive milestone in the unparalleled career of this eclectic artist Mariano Fortuny created some of the most remarkable fabrics of the last century. His pleated silk gowns and velvet cloaks are regarded by collectors and museums around the world as the craft at its best. Although he is known primarily as a fabric designer, Fortuny was also a painter, etcher, sculptor, photographer, lighting engineer, set designer, theatre director, inventor, and architect. One of Fortunys main sources of inspiration was Richard Wagner, whose 200th birthday is celebrated in 2013. This exhibition catalogue presents the influence of Richard Wagner and Wagnerism on iconography and aesthetics in the visual arts in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. In this context, Mariano Fortunys Wagnerian cycle, comprising forty-seven paintings and numerous engravings, is shown here in its entirety for the first time, together with many other drawings and illustrations never before published.