New Collections Have Arrived! Our most recent acquisition, the Francesco Ortenzi Studio Collection, comes to us from Como, Italy. Francesco Ortenzi's company was established in Rome in 1948 under the name of Farkas-Ortenzi. During the early years the principals of the studio were Maria and Terzo Ortenzi, together with Paolo Farkas, Maria's husband. 
In 1955 the family moved to Como - famous all over the world as the home of silk - where they relocated the studio. That same year Francesco Ortenzi, the youngest of Ortenzi siblings, joined the company.  Those were the days of the textile boom and the firm posted a significant increase in Italy and worldwide. The Farkas-Ortenzi design collections were esteemed by renowned fabric manufacturers and suppliers; among them the Italian firms of Jermi, Scacchi, Ratti, Mantero, Bellotti, Etro and many others; the French houses of Leonard, Ungaro, Marnard; the American companies of Victoria's Secret and Surfline, as well as several Japanese firms.
 As many as 30 designer/artists worked in the studio and new talent arrived continually which gave a contemporary, constantly evolving feature to the portfolio.  Those incredible years lasted until the 1980s when Terzo Ortenzi left the company and Paolo Farkas and Maria Ortenzi moved to New York. From then on the firm was permanently renamed as Francesco Ortenzi. The pace of work was tremendous as the studio operated in the fashion industry directly with dressmakers (Byblos, Armani, Ferré, Missoni), or through converters. The company grew to serve more industries; adding swimwear to clothing at first, then scarves and interior design, including ceramics and tableware.  The fabric design business continued its work until 2008, when Francesco Ortenzi closed the studio and retired, to engage full time in his hobby of sculpture. We are thrilled to have this body of work at The Design Library. Early 2013 also gave us the privilege of acquiring thousands of new designs from the studios and mills of France. Among the new arrivals are paintings from the studios of Chantal Geskoff and Michelle Berthet.  | | Selected floral designs from The Chantal Geskoff Collection |
 | | Selected geometric designs from The Chantal Geskoff Collection |
 | | Selected tropical and ethnic designs from The Michelle Berthet Collection |
 | | Michelle Berthet and Peter Koepke in Lyon |
These two distinct collections represent some of the best artwork for prints and jacquards of the second half of the 20th century. The collections are diverse in subject matter, scale, and mood while consistently interesting and very high in quality.
Our exciting new collections can be viewed by making an appointment to visit the Design Library or to see one of our Design Consultants.
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