It wasn't until I was window shopping in Venice that I made the connection between the luxury brand and the Museo Fortuny. Duh!
I had visited the day before, mostly to explore an upper-class Renaissance-era home gentrified in the 20th century. The size of the rooms made it a perfect atelier for a well-to-do, Spanish jack-of-all-trades who had moved to Venice at the age of 18. Mariano Fortuny can be seen in the framed photo on his desk.
Already an accomplished scene painter and lighting designer under the spell of opera meister Richard Wagner, he turned to textile and fashion design when he met Henriette Negrin, his muse, model and eventual wife. He painted this portrait of her in one of their gowns.
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| Henriette Negrin (1877-1965) |
In collaboration, they developed the luxury goods for which his name became known. In the process, they turned the former Palazzo Pesaro into a factory with many assistants to help them implement their creative vision, as well as a chic home with one cardinal rule: do NOT disturb "the master" when he was working!
The fabrics begged to be touched.
Their furnishings are like a three-dimensional mood board with a heavy emphasis on Fortuny's Spanish legacy.
Fortuny's style of painting may not be to my taste, but it sure did establish a room's "look." No doubt Mariano and Henrietta spent many nights listening to The Ring Cycle here.
The courtyard and window views provided glimpses of less public Venetian architecture
. . . and lifestyle. I'm pretty sure the Fortunys would have hated the tacky rooftop balconies and ugly antennas!
Venice
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