| ILLUSTRATORS — ITALIANS |
copied from A SHORTY HISTORY OF ILLUSTRATION
 Fiorenzo Faorz, s.d. ©SCHEDARIO, N° 16, GENNAIO 1956, P.66 |
FIORENZO FAORZI
(b. Florence
3 February 1911 - d. 9 April 2001)
Fiorenzo Faorzi was born in Florence on February 3rd, 1911, the eldest son of Armando and Arduina Venturi. A younger brother, Giovanni, was born in 1919.
An
artistic streak ran in Fiorenzo's family: his
father was a frescoes painter-decorator for the palazzos of the affluent
Florentine bourgeosie and aristocracy; an uncle, Natale Faorzi, distinguished
himself as a runner up in the 1901 Alinari contest for the illustration
of a new edition of Dante's Divina Commedia. Following on his brother's
steps, Giovanni too became a painter and illustrator.
Faorzi attended Istituto d'Arte and Magistero d'Arte in Florence
where in 1931 he obtained the diploma of Maestro d'Arte, which allowed him to
teach Arts.
In the Fifties he will in fact return to
the Istituto as Professor of Arts.
He started to work before leaving school: he debuted with "I ragazzi
agricoltori: manualetto di agricoltura per le scuole elementari rurali" by
A. Galeotti-Rasetti, a small reading book for primary schools edited by Vallecchi,
in 1929
In
1931, his graduation year, he illustrated Paolo e Virginia,
a poem by the Italian poet Guido Gozzano, produced in a limited edition of six
copies, by the Istituto d'Arte presented to the Prince of Piedmont, son
of the King of Italy, to commemorate his visit to Florence.
Faorzi is best
known for his illustrations for the Italian publisher Salani's 1934 edition
of Pinocchio by Collodi, but during his long career he illustrated hundreds
of books for all major Italian publishers.
  Pinocchio for Salani, 1934 (source: Abebooks) |
His
longest association though, was with Salani for whom he started to work in his
twenties; when the owner of Salani, Mario Salani, who paid per illustration,
hired him he promised him a constant flow of work on the condition that Faorzi
did not work for anyone else. This agreeement stood until the Forties:
after the war Faorzi worked for other publishers.
For Salani, Faorzi designed the majority of covers and in-text illustrations
of a children book collection called Biblioteca dei Miei Ragazzi
published from the early Thirties to the mid-Fifties.
Published
in 1937, just after the Italian invasion of Ethiopia, it was a very topical subject
for Faorzi who took part in the Ethiopian war.
The same year, in a satyrical pun, Faorzi gave his features to the main figure
in colonial military clothes on the cover of Sim
ragazzo abissino by Chelazzi.
An incredibly handsome young man, known all over Florence for his good looks, a contemporary witness remembered how when the young Faorzi arrived at Salani, to deliver his drawings, all the female staff tidied themselves up (si riassettavano tutte) and found every possible excuse to cross his way to be noticed.
Faorzi
contributed to many children magazines, e.g. La Settimana dei Ragazzi edited
by the writer Laura Orvieto.
He also illustrated many film posters such as "L'allegro Fantasma" directed by
Amleto Palermo (1941) starring the popular Italian actor Totò.
In the early Sixties Faorzi abandoned the illustration to become a full time painter.
He had his studio at Palazzo Capponi, where the
brass plate bearing his name still stands.
He exhibited in Florence at Galleria Spinetti in 1963, La Saletta della
Torre in 1968, and Galleria Pananti in 1972. (Exhibition catalogues @ Gabinetto
Vieusseux, Florence.)
Faorzi
was a member of Antica Compagnia del Paiolo, an association of Florentine artists
founded in Vasari's times.
He was a competent violin player having learned to play as a teenager
at the Istituto degli Innocenti, (SS Annunziata), the old charity institution
that cared for abandoned children since the XVcentury and educated in
various disciplines, including music, those of low-income families.
Occasionally he played in public at the concerts organized by the SS.
Annunziata.
He was married
and had a son who also became Professor of Arts.
He lived all his life in Florence in the same house where he was born,
where he died aged 90, on April 9th, 2001.
Capuana,
Luigi, C'era una volta; fiabe. Con illustrazioni e tavole a colori
di F. Faorzi. 1956
Vassallo,
Giovanni Maria, Orciolo di rame; fiabe e racconti per bambini dai
dieci ai novant'anni; coperta e illus. di F. Faorzi. 1949
Baccini,
Ida, Memorie di un pulcino. Illustrazioni di F. Faorzi. 1959
Collodi, Carlo, Avventure di Pinocchio, storia di un burattino;
illustrazioni di F. Faorzi. 1934
For a full bibliography see Library of Congress & opac.sbn.it