STILE FLOREALE:THE CULT OF NATURE IN ITALIAN DESIGN 1988 Overview Stile Floreale:The Cult of Nature in Italian Design, the first major examination in the United States of the Italian Art Nouveau style, included an entire "double parlor" designed by Agostino Lauro in addition to more than eighty other objects. Gabriel P. Weisberg, professor of art history at the University of Minnesota and an internationally renowned scholar in the field of Art Nouveau, was guest curator of the exhibition. Agostino Lauro (1861-1924) was a fashionable designer at the turn of the twentieth century who has since slipped into obscurity. Weisberg, however, believes he was "a major entrepreneur and designer working behind the scenes to make the Stile Floreale a new look." The exhibition catalog, which accompanied the show, brought to light important new information about Lauro's role in the development of Art Nouveau, and traced his familiarity with William Morris and the British Arts and Crafts movement as well as the Jugendstil and Art Nouveau developments throughout Europe. The double parlor at the heart of this exhibition was designed by Lauro in the early part of the century. The walls and ceiling of the room are covered in a floral patterned brocade, and the parlor contained twenty-four pieces of furniture and built-in bookcases and panels. The carved wood furniture reflects the sinuous, organic element of Art Nouveau; the tables appear to grow out of the floor, and the bookcases seem to be extensions of the walls and shelves. The vegetal growth of the "floral style" is a primary design element rather than a decoration applied to the pieces. In addition to the room, the exhibition included the original drawings for the rooms as well as text panels and photo murals demonstrating Lauro's role as a key designer connected with the famous Turin International Exhibition of Modern Decorative Arts, held in 1902. Turin was a major international design exhibit of the time. The Turin exhibition is among the topics addressed in the exhibit and in the exhibition catalog written by Weisberg, published by The Wolfsonian Foundation, and distributed by the University of Washington Press. Stile Floreale: The Cult of Nature in Italian Design is available in the Wolfsonian museum shop (127 pages, $25). Back to Past Exhibitions Main