Art, artefacts and Armani Casa: step into our Made in Italy showcase

Defined by its use of precious materials, refined finishes and innovative textiles, Armani Casa creates furniture with an enduringly elegant aesthetic. In this series of images created for Wallpaper’s September 2023 Style Issue, we’ve paired pieces from its collection with important Italian art and rare artefacts, from the Renaissance to the 21st century, showcasing the very best of the Made in Italy ethos.

Here, Wallpaper* contributing editor Nick Vinson tells us about creating and art-directing this series of images in collaboration with photographer Beppe Brancato. 

Armani Casa and Italian art, a marriage Made in Italy

This story started back in September 2022, when I visited the Florence Art Biennale with my Marylebone neighbour and unofficial art adviser Sandra Romito (Sandra works at Christie’s in London and is a specialist in Old Masters). Foolishly, I thought we would just meet for a coffee and not see much to my liking at the fair, since my taste in art is mainly 20th century, although I am obsessed with Roman antiquities. Until now, I had not considered much in-between for me. 

How wrong could I be: I fell in love with many treasures, including a pair of 14th-century mosaics, Testa di Doge and Testa di Vescovo, from Alessandra Di Castro in Rome; a wax high-relief from the early 18th century, Madonna and Child, by Girolamo Ticciati, and a 1934 group of soldiers by Arturo Martini in bronze, both from Walter Padovani in Milan. 

I went back to my desk and looked at what I saw and realised that I wanted to put all these masterpieces together, mixing the different periods and borrowing them from specialist Italian dealers in a shoot. So an idea hatched to tell the story of Italian art over the centuries and connect it with 21st-century Armani Casa furniture to represent my specialist subject of Made in Italy design. 

I found that by selecting works in ceramic, terracotta, canvas, paper, stone, bronze and mosaic, I could illustrate the history of Italian art, exhibiting the craft and ingenuity of Italian artists, artisans and craftsmen over centuries using precious and rare materials and specialist techniques.

I headed to MiArt in Milan in April 2023, and found two exquisite pieces in glazed terracotta, Profilo di Uomo and Donna del Cuore by Guerrino Tramonti, from 1968 and 1970 from ED Gallery in Piacenza; and the monumental Flavia Teste Rosso by Vanessa Beecroft, a head atop a column of French marble from 2012, from Galleria Lia Rumma in Milan. I then headed to Robilant + Voena for 20th-century works in oil on canvas by Paolo Scheggi, in bronze by Agostino Bonalumi, Kleenex on packing paper by Luciano Bartolini, and porcelain painted in gold by Lucio Fontana. 

Further works, including a 19th-century lioness sculpture in terracotta, and two pieces from 1967 and 1979 in rock crystal quartz by Andrea Cascella, were found at Brun Fine Art in Milan.

A week later, at Salone del Mobile 2023, I found similarities in the workmanship of the 14th-century mosaics and Armani Casa’s ‘Camilla’ desk, finished entirely in shell mosaic. The pared-down ‘Space’ table has a top in three-dimensional silk canneté sealed in a glossy lacquered finish, another artisanal technique. 

Armani Casa pieces are modern to their soul, yet grounded in a classicism of proportion, with finishes that you won’t tire of, and that will stand the test of time. This story also illustrates their versatility: what connects everything is the fact that for centuries, Italy has had these handcraft skills, providing the backbone for both art and furniture.

armani.com

A version of this article appears in the September 2023 Style Issue of Wallpaper*, on sale now available in print, on the Wallpaper* app on Apple iOS, and to subscribers of Apple News +. Subscribe to Wallpaper* today