Gaetano Pesce Foot
2010s Italian Mid-Century Modern Lounge Chairs
Plastic
Early 2000s Italian Modern Lounge Chairs
Polystyrene
Early 2000s Italian Mid-Century Modern Armchairs
Fabric
Late 20th Century Post-Modern Side Tables
Metal
Vintage 1960s Italian Lounge Chairs
Foam
Vintage 1970s American Mid-Century Modern Lounge Chairs
Upholstery, Plywood
People Also Browsed
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Vases
Resin
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Organic Modern Center Tables
Travertine
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Sofas
Metal
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Wall Lights and Sconces
Metal, Brass
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Benches
Fabric, Velvet, Lacquer, Wood
Vintage 1970s Italian Post-Modern Armchairs
Fabric, Wood, Velvet
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Wall Clocks
Resin
2010s American Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Composition
21st Century and Contemporary German Mid-Century Modern Chandeliers and ...
Metal, Iron
2010s Italian Vases
Resin
Vintage 1960s Italian Space Age Armchairs
Plastic, Foam
Vintage 1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Sectional Sofas
Chrome
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Glass
Vintage 1970s Sofas
Mohair
Vintage 1970s French Wall Lights and Sconces
Bronze
1990s Italian Chairs
Metal
Recent Sales
Vintage 1960s Italian Chaise Longues
Foam
Vintage 1960s Italian Lounge Chairs
Foam
Vintage 1970s Italian Mid-Century Modern Chairs
Foam, Polystyrene
Vintage 1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Lounge Chairs
Foam
Vintage 1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Lounge Chairs
Foam
Early 2000s Italian Mid-Century Modern Figurative Sculptures
Rubber
Early 2000s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vases
Rubber
Early 2000s Italian Modern Figurative Sculptures
Plastic
Vintage 1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Lounge Chairs
Foam, Coating
Vintage 1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Lounge Chairs
Coating, Foam
Vintage 1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Lounge Chairs
Foam, Coating
Late 20th Century Italian Modern Chairs
Metal
Vintage 1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Chairs
Foam
Vintage 1970s Italian Modern Armchairs
Fabric, Jute, Nylon
Early 2000s Mid-Century Modern Armchairs
Fabric, Foam
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Vases
Rubber
1990s Italian Mid-Century Modern Lounge Chairs
Fabric
Early 2000s Italian Space Age Lounge Chairs
Foam
Vintage 1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Lounge Chairs
Foam
Vintage 1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Lounge Chairs
Foam
Vintage 1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Lounge Chairs
Foam
Early 2000s Italian Modern Lounge Chairs
Polystyrene
Early 2000s Italian Modern Lounge Chairs
Polystyrene
Vintage 1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Lounge Chairs
Foam, Coating
Vintage 1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Lounge Chairs
Foam, Coating
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Mid-Century Modern Lounge Chairs
Fabric, Upholstery
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Loveseats
Fabric, Jute, Nylon
Mid-20th Century Italian Post-Modern Chaise Longues
Foam
Vintage 1970s Italian Modern Armchairs
Fabric, Jute, Nylon
20th Century North American Vases
Resin
Vintage 1960s Italian Armchairs
Late 20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Vases
Resin
Vintage 1960s Italian Lounge Chairs
Foam
Vintage 1960s Italian Sculptures
1990s American Post-Modern Chairs
Stainless Steel
Late 20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Vases
Resin
Gaetano Pesce Foot For Sale on 1stDibs
How Much is a Gaetano Pesce Foot?
Gaetano Pesce for sale on 1stDibs
Gaetano Pesce was of a generation of Italian architects who in the early 1960s rebelled against the industrial perfection of modernism by conceiving new furniture and objects that were at once expressive and eccentric in form; or you might say they were more like art than functionalist design.
Born in the picturesque coastal Italian city of La Spezia in 1939, Pesce was a precocious talent who could have forged a career as an artist but opted instead to go to Venice to study architecture because, as he has said, it was “the most complex of all the arts.” Rather than having new worlds opened to him at design school, however, Pesce found the rationalist curriculum oppressive in its insistence on standardization and prescribed materials and technologies.
Pesce wanted to explore the latest of both materials and technologies to create objects and buildings never before imagined, with what he called “personalities” that spoke to the issues of the day. He was keen to examine ways to diversify mass production so that each manufactured work could be distinct.
In 1964, Pesce met Cesare Cassina, of the forward-looking furniture company C&B Italia in Milan (now known as B&B Italia), for whom he would create many important designs, beginning with a collection of what he called “transformational furniture” — two chairs and a loveseat — made entirely out of high-density polyurethane foam. To make the pieces easy to ship and cost-efficient, he proposed that after being covered in a stretch jersey, they be put in a vacuum, then heat-sealed flat between vinyl sheets. Once the foam was removed from its packaging, the piece returned to its original shape — hence, the name Up for the series, which debuted in 1969.
In addition to these pieces, Pesce proposed for the collection something he referred to as an “anti-armchair,” which took the shape of a reclining fertility goddess, the iconic Donna.
Producing the piece's complex form turned out to be a technical challenge. Bayer, the foam’s manufacturer, deemed it impossible to accomplish. Pesce persisted and came up with a new procedure, demonstrating not only the designer’s key role in researching the nature and potential of new materials but also his vital importance in “doubting rules.” The Up chair and accompanying ottoman were born, and they were revolutionary in more ways than one.
In the early 1970s, Pesce began exploring one of his key concepts, the idea of the industrial originals. Employing a mold without air holes, and adding a blood-red dye to the polyurethane, he cast a bookcase that resembled a demolished wall, the rough edges of the shelves and posts resulting from fissures in the material made by trapped air.
Through his research into polyurethane, Pesce figured out a way to make a loveseat and armchair using only a simple wood frame and strong canvas covering as a mold. Since the fabric developed random folds during the injection process, the pieces were similar but not identical. Cassina named the suite of furnishings Sit Down and introduced it in 1975. By experimenting with felt soaked in polyurethane and resin, Pesce conceived I Feltri, another collection of armchairs introduced by Cassina in 1987.
Pesce went on to live a life that defied expectation and convention and along the way became one of the most seminal figures in art and design.
Find vintage Gaetano Pesce chairs, sofas, vases and more on 1stDibs.