Olivetti et Folon: un humanisme partagé

Belgian artist Jean-Michel Folon (1934–2005) worked for several years with the Italian design company Olivetti. This collaboration is emblematic of the long-standing relationship between Olivetti and the art world.

In 1912, Camillo Olivetti commissioned the painter Teodoro Wolf Ferrari to create the emblematic poster for Olivetti’s first typewriter, the M1. However, it was only under the presidency of his son Adriano (1938 – 1960) that Olivetti transformed into a modern company. The Olivetti headquarters in Ivrea became a laboratory for innovative interaction between business and society. This model is still considered exemplary today for its ability to integrate culture, technological research, design, architecture, beauty, and sustainability. Adriano Olivetti opened the company to intellectuals, artists, sociologists, and philosophers.

Thanks to this approach, Giorgio Soavi, a close cultural collaborator of Adriano, invited Folon to become part of the Olivetti universe in the 1960s. Thirty years of collaboration between the Belgian artist Jean-Michel Folon, who shaped the destiny of humankind through his art, and Olivetti, for which he curated visual identity and graphics for a period.

Their long friendship and Olivetti’s artistic legacy will be presented to the public with this conference, offering a new perspective on the Italian company, a pioneer in creating typewriters and calculators, and on Jean-Michel Folon, a uniquely talented artist.