Vol. 1
FMR
interview by Alain Elkann
Franco Maria Ricci is a, if not the, giant of art publishing and graphic design. Born outside of Parma, as a young graphic designer Ricci came across the typefaces of Giambattista Bodoni in the Palatina Library and felt an instant affinity with the seminal 18th-century Italian typographer and publisher from Parma. A year later, when Ricci set up his own publishing house, Franco Maria Ricci Editore, he used the elegant Bodoni typeface for his books. Eventually, he launched his namesake magazine, FMR. Both his books and his magazine stood in contrast to the trend for small, inexpensively printed publications. Instead, Ricci fashioned a signature style that was sumptuously produced with superior photography. His books were instantly recognizable: shiny, black silk-bound covers with gold Bodoni lettering printed on precious paper.
But Ricci’s influence was not just his style; he placed a prescience, not on current trends but artists and thinkers like Antonio Canova, Umberto Eco, and Jorge Luis Borges. In many ways, the concept of the art book itself was born from Ricci’s inspiration. In the 1970s and 80s when most publishers were printing paperbacks, Ricci created a market for luxurious publications. As Ricci explains, “Sometimes the most difficult things can be done.”
In August of 2018, Marco Voena and Alain Elkann visited Franco Maria Ricci in Parma where he has created the largest bamboo labyrinth in the world. Among his many talents, Ricci has formed a collection of paintings and sculptures which, together with his labyrinth, is open to the public. When he was still running FMR, Ricci was recognizable for his personal Italian style, always clothed in double-breasted pinstriped suits, which were adorned with a red plastic rose on the lapel. Now that he has returned to living in the countryside of Parma, Ricci has exchanged his pinstriped suit for a loden-green jacket of Austrian style; however, the red plastic rose remains a permanent fixture on his lapel.
What does being from Parma mean to you?
Parma inspired me enormously. My taste, which is fundamentally Neoclassical, comes from Parma…
