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.
$17,892
H 76.78 in W 39.38 in D 5.12 in
20th Century Ettore Sottsass Mirror Ultrafragola for Poltronova
By Ettore Sottsass, Poltronova
Located in Torino, Piemonte
Ettore Sottsass was a 20th-century Italian architect, noted for also designing furniture, jewellery, glass, lighting, home and office wares, as well as numerous buildings and interio...
Opal
Ultrafragola mirror by Ettore Sottsass 2010s
Located in PARIS, FR
Designed in 1970 by Ettore Sottsass for Poltronova as part of his "Mobili Grigi" series — a domestic furniture line that quietly rejected the heroic modernism of his peers — the Ultr...
Glass, Fiberglass
$16,699
H 76.78 in W 39.38 in D 5.12 in
Italian modern lighted mirror Ultrafragola by Sottsass for Poltronova, 1980s
By Poltronova, Ettore Sottsass
Located in MIlano, IT
Italian modern lighted mirror Ultrafragola by Ettore Sottsass for Poltronova, 1980s Ultrafragola full-length wall mirror with sinuous opaline plastic frame, backlit by pink neon. Pr...
Mirror, Plastic
$8,525Sale Price / item|30% Off
H 76.78 in W 39.38 in D 5.12 in
Pink ‘Ultrafragola’ Mirror Designed by Ettore Sottsass for Poltronova, Italy
By Ettore Sottsass
Located in London, GB
The curvaceous pink ‘Ultrafragola’ mirror designed by Ettore Sottsass is probably the most iconic of all his many designs. Originally produced in the 1970s by Poltronova, the ‘Ultrafragola’ formed part of a series of Sottsass designs named Mobili Grigi. When illuminated, the lights within the mirror transform the white opaline acrylic shell into a stunning multi-pink display. This unique, individually numbered, re-edition piece is still produced by the same Florentine company today and is sold with a “Certificate of Authenticity”. The perfectly pink ‘selfie’ mirror!
Glass, Acrylic
$8,525Sale Price / item|30% Off
H 76.78 in W 39.38 in D 5.12 in
Pink ‘Ultrafragola’ Mirror Designed by Ettore Sottsass for Poltronova, Italy
By Ettore Sottsass
Located in London, GB
The curvaceous pink ‘Ultrafragola’ mirror designed by Ettore Sottsass is probably the most iconic of all his many designs. Originally produced in the 1970s by Poltronova, the ‘Ultrafragola’ formed part of a series of Sottsass designs named Mobili Grigi. When illuminated, the lights within the mirror transform the white opaline acrylic shell into a stunning multi-pink display. This unique, individually numbered, re-edition piece is still produced by the same Florentine company today and is sold with a “Certificate of Authenticity”. The perfectly pink ‘selfie’ mirror...
Glass, Acrylic
$12,000 / item
H 76.8 in W 39.4 in D 5 in
Ettore Sottsass Ultrafragola Neon Mirror, Poltronova, 1970 Design
By Ettore Sottsass
Located in Tinton Falls, NJ
Ultrafragola mirror/lamp, with its sinuous profile that suggests long wavy hair, belongs to the Mobili Grigi series of complete bedroom and living room furnishings designed by Ettore...
Mirror, Plastic
$11,451
H 76.78 in W 39.38 in D 5.12 in
Ultrafragola Mirror/Lamp by Ettore Sottsass for Poltronova, Italy
By Ettore Sottsass, Poltronova
Located in Asti, Piemonte
The Ultrafragola mirror / lamp with its sinuous shape, evocative of a wavy female hair, belongs to the Gray Furniture series, a complete bedroom and liv...
Glass, Plastic
$10,258
H 76.78 in W 39.38 in D 5.12 in
Ettore Sottsass Pink Neon Lamp "Ultrafragola" Italian Mirror, Ready to Ship
By Poltronova, Ettore Sottsass
Located in Madrid, ES
Available for immediate delivery. A colorful iconic mirror model "Ultrafragola" designed by Ettore Sottsass and edited by Poltronova. Made of white perp...
Steel
$8,525Sale Price / item|30% Off
H 76.78 in W 39.38 in D 5.12 in
Pink ‘Ultrafragola’ Mirror Designed by Ettore Sottsass for Poltronova, Italy
By Ettore Sottsass
Located in London, GB
The curvaceous pink ‘Ultrafragola’ mirror designed by Ettore Sottsass is probably the most iconic of all his many designs. Originally produced in the 1970s by Poltronova, the ‘Ultrafragola’ formed part of a series of Sottsass designs named Mobili Grigi. When illuminated, the lights within the mirror transform the white opaline acrylic shell into a stunning multi-pink display. This unique, individually numbered, re-edition piece is still produced by the same Florentine company today and is sold with a “Certificate of Authenticity”. The perfectly pink ‘selfie’ mirror!
Glass, Acrylic
$32,150
H 76.78 in W 39.38 in D 5.91 in
Early Ultrafragola Mirror by Ettore Sottsass for Poltronova, Italy, 1970s
By Poltronova, Ettore Sottsass
Located in Antwerp, BE
The iconic Ultrafragola mirror by Ettore Sottsass is both a functional mirror and an illuminated art piece, embodying the playfu...
Plastic
