Fontana Arte  (Italian) 

Fontana Arte is the artistic division of Luigi Fontana & Co., a glass manufacturing company started by artist Luigi Fontana (Italian, 1827–1908). Famed architect Gio Ponti (Italian, 1891-1979) founded the Fontana Arte division in 1932. Ponti realized that he could incorporate items made from glass, such as lamps and tables, into his various interior designs. He enlisted the help of artist Peitro Chiesa (Italian, 1892–1948) to formulate a plan for Fontana Arte's new artistic direction. While working for Fontana Arte, Chiesa was able to express his creativity in new ways. He designed over 1,000 pieces for Fontana Arte that included lamps, tables, and glass windows. Some of Chiesa's best known pieces include Cartoccio, a uniquely-shaped glass vase that curves up creating four points at the top, the Fontana, a coffee table made from a large piece of curved glass, and Luminator, a series of modern floor lamps made from nickel-plated brass.

In 1979, the dynamics of Fontana Arte drastically changed. A group of private investors purchased the company, and Carlo Guglielmi was appointed chief executive. He hired multiple architects to design new pieces for Fontana Arte; Gae Aulenti (Italian, b.1927) became the new art director, Pierluigi Cerri (Italian, b.1939) became the new graphics consultant, Piero Castiglioni (Italian, b.1944) became Fontana Arte's lighting engineer, and Franco Raggi (Italian, b.1945) handled special events. The idea was to rebuild the original concept of Fontana Arte, by allowing big-name architects to collaborate on the company's new designs.

From 1979 until the late 1990s, Fontana Arte continued to expand. It purchased an innovative lighting company, Candle, in 1992. It also opened vast showrooms in Milan, Rome, Via Giulia, and Los Angeles, CA. In 1998, Fontana Arte's new line, Oggetti, was unveiled. The company continued to break into new markets throughout the 2000s, earning it worldwide recognition for its modernly designed pieces. By 2010, Fontana Arte had showrooms in both Paris and Shanghai and sold products throughout Europe, the United States, Canada, Asia, and Australia.