An architect, industrial designer, philosopher and provocateur, Ettore Sottsass led a revolution in the aesthetics and technology of modern design in the late 20th century. He was a wild man of the Radical Design movement that swept Italy in the late 1960s and ’70s, rejecting rationalism and modernism in favor of ever-more outrageous imaginings in lighting and furniture such as mirrors, lamps, chairs and tables.
Sottsass was the oldest member of the Memphis Group — a design collective, formed in Milan in 1980, whose irreverent, spirited members included Alessandro Mendini, Michele de Lucchi, Michael Graves and Shiro Kuramata. All had grown disillusioned by the staid, black-and-brown “corporatized” modernism that had become endemic in the 1970s. Memphis (the name stemmed from the title of a Bob Dylan song) countered with bold, brash, colorful, yet quirkily minimal designs for furniture, glassware, ceramics and metalwork.
The Memphis Group mocked high-status by building furniture with inexpensive materials such as plastic laminates, decorated to resemble exotic finishes such as animal skins. Their work was both functional and — as intended — shocking.
Even as it preceded the Memphis Group's formal launch, Sottsass's iconic Ultrafragola mirror — in its conspicuously curved plastic shell and radical pops of pink neon — embodies many of the collective's postmodern ideals.
Sottsass created innovative furnishings for the likes of Artemide, Knoll, Zanotta and Poltronova, where he reigned as artistic director for nearly two decades beginning in 1958. His most-recognized designs appeared in the first Memphis collection, issued in 1981 — notably the multihued, angular Carlton room divider and Casablanca bookcase. As pieces on 1stDibs demonstrate, however, Sottsass is at his most inspired and expressive in smaller, secondary furnishings such as lamps and chandeliers, and in table pieces and glassware that have playful and sculptural qualities.
Sottsass left the Memphis Group in 1985 in order to concentrate on the growth of Sottsass Associati, a design and architecture consultancy he cofounded in 1980.
It was as an artist that Sottsass was celebrated in his life, in exhibitions at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, in 2006, and the Philadelphia Museum of Art a year later. Even then Sottsass’s work prompted critical debate. And for a man whose greatest pleasure was in astonishing, delighting and ruffling feathers, perhaps there was no greater accolade. That the work remains so revolutionary and bold — that it breaks with convention so sharply it will never be considered mainstream — is a testament to his genius.
Find Ettore Sottsass lighting, decorative objects and furniture for sale on 1stDibs.
"Manifesto"
By Ettore Sottsass
Located in Paris, FR
Designed by Ettore Sottsass for the Milanese editor Stilnovo in the 1970s, the "Manifesto" ceiling lights are a singular and revolutionary design, representative of the avant-garde e...
Metal, Aluminum
1970s Arcangelo Metropolitano Floor Lamp by Ugo La Pietra
By Ugo La Pietra
Located in Paris, FR
Ugo La Pietra (né en 1938). Lampadaire Arcangelo Metropolitano Métal et méthacrylate peint Signé ‘Ugo La Pietra’ sur la base Lumen Center Prod. Date de création : 1977 Measures...
Steel
1980s "Miss, Don't You like Caviar?" pair of armchairs by Ettore Sottsass
By Ettore Sottsass
Located in Paris, FR
Price for a pair, 3 pairs available. Executed by Renzo Brugola Distributed by Blum Helman Gallery Collection Centre Georges Pompidou The Metropolitan Museum of Art collection In 1987, he designed the Miss, don’t you like caviar? chair for the I suppose you know what I’m talking about dining room suite. Each piece of this ensemble consists of a number of heterogeneous geometrical elements having a symbolic connotation. The honesty with which Sottsass designed and marketed this work to a luxury clientele could be seen as antithetical to modernism’s democratic ethos predicated on mass production. With the suite of furniture that includes this chair, there was no illusion of reaching ordinary consumers—the pieces are loft-scaled, exquisitely proportioned ensembles made of rare stones and exotic woods. Titles of other items in the series include What’s the Name of Your Swiss Bank...
Steel
1960s Astrale Sculpture by Emile Gilioli
By Émile Gilioli
Located in Paris, FR
Emile Gilioli (1911 - 1977) ‘‘Astrale’’, 1966 White marble, base in black laquered wood Sculpture : H. 63,5 x 29 x 39 cm / Base : H. 100 x 43 x 42,5 cm At the height of the 20th cen...
Marble
"Cléone Spinoza" cabinet
By Alessandro Mendini
Located in Paris, FR
The Cléone Spinoza cabinet, designed in 1993 by Alessandro Mendini, reflects his vision of design as a narrative and philosophical language. A leading figure of postmodernism and a t...
Metal
"Eccentrico" Table by Angelo Mangiarotti
By Angelo Mangiarotti
Located in Paris, FR
A spectacular cantilevered table with gravity joint made by the famous architect Angelo Mangiarotti. An elegant mix of minimalism and stone textures.
Marble
20th Century, Ettore Sottsass for Mirabili EAD Totem
By Mirabili, Ettore Sottsass
Located in Torino, Piemonte
Ettore Sottsass grew up in Turin, and graduated in architecture from the Turin Polytechnic in 1939. In 1947, he founded his own studio in Milan. In 1956, Sottsass moved to New York w...
Ceramic
Ettore Sottsass Small Totem
Located in New York, NY
Ettore Sottsass was an influential Italian architect and designer best known for reshaping the language of postmodern design in the late 20th century. Born in 1917 in Innsbruck and r...
Earthenware
Ettore Sottsass Small Totem
Located in New York, NY
Ettore Sottsass was a groundbreaking Italian architect and designer whose work reshaped postwar design culture. Born in 1917, he became widely known for challenging the rigid functio...
Earthenware
Ettore Sottsass Prototype "Menta" Totem
Located in New York, NY
Ettore Sottsass was an influential Italian architect and designer whose work helped redefine the language of postmodern design in the late 20th century. Born in 1917 in Innsbruck and...
Earthenware
Contemporary Art Ceramic Totem Chocolate Piece Number 33/99 by Ettore Sottsass
By Mirabili, Ettore Sottsass
Located in Pistoia, IT
The message that Mirabili intends to portay involves well-known artist and designers, selected for their particular gifts and their poetic world, lending an innovative and sensitive ...
Ceramic, Wood
Ettore Sottsas Tahiti Memphis Milano Postmodern
By Memphis Group, Ettore Sottsass
Located in Shibuya-ku, Tokyo
Ettore Sottsass's Tahiti lamp. Materpiece of 1980s design.
Stainless Steel
