The lighting maker Arteluce was one of the companies at the heart of the creative explosion in postwar Italian design. The firm’s founder and guiding spirit, Gino Sarfatti (1912–85), was an incessant technical and stylistic innovator who almost single-handedly reinvented the chandelier as a modernist lighting form.
Sarfatti attended the University of Genoa to study aeronautical engineering but was forced to drop out when his father’s company went out of business. His mechanical instincts led him to turn his attention to lighting design — and he founded Arteluce as a small workshop in Milan in 1939. Sarfatti’s father was a Jew, so the family fled to Switzerland in 1943, but after the war — largely thanks to Sarfatti’s insistence on efficiency of design and manufacture — Arteluce quickly established itself as a top firm.
Though Sarfatti continued as chief designer through the 1950s and ’60s, he also enlisted other designers such as Franco Albini and Massimo Vignelli to contribute work. Sarfatti sold Arteluce to FLOS — a rival Italian lighting maker — in 1973 and retired to pursue a more traditional avocation: collecting and dealing rare postage stamps.
Sarfatti is regarded by many collectors as a pioneer of minimalist design. He pared down his lighting works to their essentials, focusing on practical aspects such as flexibility of use. His most famous light, the 2097 chandelier, is a brilliant example of reductive modernist design, featuring a central cylinder from which branches numerous supporting fixtures extending like spokes on a wheel.
Similarly, Sarfatti's 566 table lamp is a simple canister, able to be raised or lowered on a stem, holding a half-chrome bulb. Despite the marked functionality of his designs, Sarfatti did have a sprightly side: His 534 table lamp, with its cluster of rounded enameled shades, resembles a vase full of flowers, the Sputnik chandelier (model 2003) was inspired by fireworks and the brightly colored plastic disks of the 2072 chandelier look like lollipops. No matter the style, Sarfatti concentrated first and foremost on the character of light created — and any Arteluce lamp is a modernist masterpiece.
Find vintage Arteluce table lamps, chandeliers, floor lamps and other lighting on 1stDibs.
rare variation of the famous 2065 by gino sarfatti for arteluce
By Gino Sarfatti, Arteluce
Located in Munich, DE
very rare 2065 arteluce ceiling lamp by gino sarfatti. absolutely futuristic design for it´s date of birth. an 1950 icon in an very rare variation. wonderful patinated brass - inste...
Brass
Lamp '2095/7' by Gino Sarfatti for Arteluce 1960s
By Gino Sarfatti, Arteluce
Located in Milano, IT
Vintage Hanging Lamp '2095/7' model designed by Gino Sarfatti for a 1960s Arteluce production. Painted metal rosette, turned and polished aluminum ball holder, seven clear glass bal...
Metal, Aluminum
Gino Sarfatti 2095/9 chandelier Arteluce Italy 1958
By Gino Sarfatti, Arteluce
Located in Roosendaal, Noord Brabant
A nice and visually striking chandelier, model 2095/9, designed by the legendary Gino Sarfatti and produced by Arteluce, Italy, in 1958. This large and elegant fixture is a perfect e...
Aluminum
Gino Sarfatti SP/ 16 For Arteluce Unique Brass Bubble Pendant Lamp, 1950, Italy
By Archimede Seguso, Gino Sarfatti, Arteluce
Located in The Hague, NL
Rare beautiful pendant lamp by Gino Sarfatti for Arteluce, 1950s, Italy. Model number: SP/ 16. This special pendant lamp, has five heavy massive bubble glass, made by Archimede Segu...
Brass
Yellow metal pendant, Gino Sarfatti for Arteluce, 1955
By Gino Sarfatti, Arteluce
Located in Berlin, DE
Pendant lights model no. '2079' with a perforated yellow lacquered metal construction and opaline glass. Dimensions: H. 30 cm Ø20 cm Design: Gino Sarfatti 1955 for Arteluce Italy....
Metal
$24,000
Arteluce 17 Arm Chandelier
By Arteluce
Located in New York, NY
An exceptionally rare and striking 17 arm chandelier, embodying the quintessential elegance and innovative design of Arteluce during the Italian Mid-Century Modern period. This impre...
Brass
Set di 2 lampade 2042/3 Gino Sarfatti, Arteluce, 1960
By Arteluce, Gino Sarfatti
Located in Milano, Lombardia
Set di 2 lampade 2042/3 Gino Sarfatti, Arteluce, 1960 Copia URL Condizioni: Buone Materiali: Metallo verniciato, Vetro Epoca: 1960 La Lampada da soffitto modello 2042/3, disegnata d...
Metal
Gino Sarfatti for Arteluce Three-Light Pendant
By Gino Sarfatti, Arteluce
Located in New York, NY
Gino Sarfatti for Arteluce pendant chandelier with three glass globe lights hung on black perforated enameled metal structures suspe...
Metal
Tristras pendant lamp by Perry King for Arteluce, 1986
By Arteluce, Perry King and Santiago Miranda
Located in Ravenna, IT
Black polycarbonate plastic chandelier with white power cord. The lamp has a Space Age style especially in the part that houses the three light bodies, which are surrounded by a curv...
Plastic
Gino Sarfatti Chandelier Model 2095/5 by Arteluce, Italy, 1958
By Gino Sarfatti, Arteluce
Located in Roosendaal, Noord Brabant
Very nice chandelier model 2095/5 designed by Gino Sarfatti, manufactured by Arteluce, Italy, 1958. This nice and impressive chandelier has a rare white ceiling plate and original wh...
Aluminum
Ceiling Light by Gino Sarfatti, circa 1961
By Gino Sarfatti, Arteluce
Located in Berlin, DE
Ceiling light "Model 2113" Blackened aluminium, opaline glass, lower cover texturized glass Dimension: H 19 cm, ø 21 cm Manufacturer Arteluce Inside "Arteluce" label.
Aluminum
1 of 35 Gino Sarfatti Pendants Model 2095/1 by Arteluce, Italy, 1958
By Arteluce, Gino Sarfatti
Located in Echt, NL
Beautiful original model 2095/1 pendants in very good original condition. Designed by Gino Sarfatti in 1958. Manufactured by Arteluce, Italy. There are 35 of these pendants availa...
Aluminum