Quite a few Visual Artists had a major influence on the post-war Modern Style. In the 30s Alexander Calder became friends with Hans Arp and Juan Miro, and it can be argued that the individual visions of these three Artists set the tone for the new fashionable shapes and images that would dominate fifties Modernism. Other inspiration can be seen in the work of Paul Klee, Yves Tanguy and Max Ernst. Further influence originated from the constructionist sculptors Naum Gabo and Anton Pevsner. They played with the concepts of space to demonstrate intellectual metaphors like four-dimensional objects, and thus created a great deal of excitement in the artistic community of their time.

The first Modernist wave of novelty styling emerged out of a vision of organic sculptural Design. The best Furniture Designers, Architects and Interior Designers of many countries contributed to a consistent and radical shift in style through three-dimensional perception.

The second wave exploded with new graphics, inspired by avantgarde painters and new symbols connected to scientific advancement. This can be best seen in contemporary graphics, textile and wallpaper Design and last but not least the Ceramics Industry.

In 1947 Pablo Picasso went to Vallauris, and took up Ceramics because he wanted to develop new expression through a completely different medium. His original approach caused a creative explosion of excitement for new esthetic possibilities in this field of applied arts.

Enter the avantgarde Italian Ceramic Artists Marcello Fantomi and the second most important inspirational Originator after Picasso: Antonia Campi. This lady sculptor worked for the Sociéta Ceramica Italiana Di Laveno from 1948, and was given absolute artistic freedom. Campi created definitive original ceramics that spurned uncountable variations by other designers (to her dismay!). In 1951 she created a huge mural for the Milan Triennale of that year. The exhibited Italian Ceramics inspired Designers all over Europe, and caused a radical new style direction for even the most traditional companies like Rosenthal in Germany and Midwinter in England.

ANTONIA CAMPI