Pietro Chiesa
Born in Milan to a Swiss father and an Italian mother, Pietro Chiesa (1892-1948) is renowned as one of the most innovative figures in the Italian decorative arts scene during the first half of the 20th century. Through his furniture, but above all thanks to his lamps, which seem to evoke abstract works of art, he was a key figure in the spread of the Italian glassmaking in the world (he exhibited in Paris at the Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes in 1925 ). HIs choice of pure (yet rich in character) forms, made him a forerunner of industrial design. From 1933 to 1948, he was the artistic director of Fontana Arte, the glass and lighting brand founded by Gio Ponti and Luigi Fontana.