Gae Aulenti for Poltronova 'Locus Solus' Table in Lacquered Metal
View Similar Items
Gae Aulenti for Poltronova 'Locus Solus' Table in Lacquered Metal
About the Item
- Creator:Poltronova (Manufacturer),Gae Aulenti (Designer)
- Dimensions:Height: 26.38 in (67 cm)Width: 33.08 in (84 cm)Depth: 33.08 in (84 cm)
- Style:Mid-Century Modern (In the Style Of)
- Materials and Techniques:Glass,Metal
- Place of Origin:Italy
- Period:1960-1969
- Date of Manufacture:1960s
- Condition:Wear consistent with age and use. Every item Morentz offers is checked by our team of 30 craftspeople in our in-house workshop. Special restoration or reupholstery requests can be done. Check ‘About the item’ or ask our design specialists for detailed information on the condition.
- Seller Location:Waalwijk, NL
- Reference Number:Seller: 501157191stDibs: LU933139195592
Gae Aulenti
The Italian architect and designer Gae Aulenti will forever be best remembered for her work with museums, in particular her 1980–86 renovation of a Beaux Arts Paris train station to create the galleries of the Musée d’Orsay. Aulenti — whose first name, short for Gaetana, is pronounced “guy” — should also be recalled for her tough intellectual spirit and for working steadily when few women found successful architectural careers in postwar Italy.
After she graduated from the Milan Polytechic in 1954, Aulenti opened an architectural office. She also joined the staff of the progressive architectural magazine Casabella, whose editorial line was that the establishment, orthodox modernism of Le Corbusier and the Bauhaus, had outlived it usefulness. When their movement for fresh approaches to architecture and design received a sympathetic hearing, Aulenti found patrons — most prominently Gianni Agnelli, of Fiat, who later employed her to renovate the Palazzo Grassi in Venice for use as an arts exhibition space.
Commissions for showrooms and other corporate spaces brought Aulenti to furniture design. She felt that furniture should never dominate a room. Her chairs and sofas — low-slung, with rounded enameled metal frames and ample seats — and tables, particularly her 1972 marble Jumbo coffee table for Knoll, project solidity and sturdiness. In lighting design, however, Aulenti is bravura. Each work has a marvelous sculptural presence. Pieces such as her Pipistrello table lamp and Quadrifoglio pendant are a perfect marriage of organically shaped glass and high-tech fixtures. Others have a futuristic elegance — and some even have a touch of personality. Aulenti’s Pileino and La Ruspa table lamps each look almost like little robots. Her lighting pieces are an artful grace note in the career of a woman who believed in strength.
Poltronova
Poltronova is known for embracing the creativity that opposites can introduce to a space. Its radical modernist furniture and lighting fixtures are simultaneously grounded in classic aesthetics and inspired by what were then new and provocative artistic movements in mid-century Italy, when the company was founded. This tension resulted in unique and extraordinary pieces at the manufacturer, from eccentric, glove-shaped armchairs to striking dining tables that feature a mix of materials and textures.
Italian designer Sergio Cammilli founded Poltronova in Tuscany in 1957. That same year, it won the Compasso d’Oro for the Panchetto chair designed by Luciano Nustrini. Revolutionary Italian architect Ettore Sottsass — a maestro of postmodern design who would later establish the Memphis Group — came on board as an art director in 1958. Poltronova manufactured many of his furniture and ceramic designs. Sottsass’s lighting, seating and other works for Poltronova showcase the designer’s bold experimentation with solid wood, glass, metal and laminate materials.
Other established names in Italian furniture design collaborated with Poltronova’s Sottsass and Cammilli, including Giovanni Michelucci, Gae Aulenti and Angelo Mangiarotti. However, the company truly set itself apart in its collaborations with Superstudio and Archizoom Associati, groups that were part of an irreverent, avant-garde movement in art and design that took shape during the 1960s in Florence, Turin and Milan. Collectives associated with the movement — which would one day be called Italian Radical design — drew on Pop art and minimalism and explored working with unconventional materials to create colorful, quirky and uniquely shaped objects and furnishings. At the time, Poltronova also worked with up-and-coming names in the art world, like painter Max Ernst and sculptor Mario Ceroli.
Poltronova showcased its groundbreaking designs in many exhibitions, such as “La Casa Abitata,” which was held in Florence in 1965. At Milan's Eurodomus trade show in 1970, Poltronova debuted an entire bedroom collection designed by Sottsass — including his sensuous Ultrafragola mirror. The brand’s furnishings were included in a 1972 exhibition at New York’s Museum of Modern Art called "Italy: The New Domestic Landscape," and in 1977, Poltronova again won the Compasso d’Oro for a book called Fare Mobili con Poltronova (Making Furniture with Poltronova).
Poltronova's enduring and acclaimed furniture designs came to be loved far outside Italy. During the 1960s, importer Charles Stendig represented the company and helped introduce it to the American market.
In 2005, Poltronova established the Centro Studi Poltronova to recreate some of the company's iconic furniture. The brand has also recently collaborated with English architect Nigel Coates, who worked with a Poltronova master craftsman in Italy to design a series of limited-edition furniture in 2011, including the Domo chair.
On 1stDibs, find vintage Poltronova tables, seating, storage cabinets and more.
Established in 2006, Morentz has a team of approximately 55 restorers, upholsterers, interior advisers and art historians, making it a gallery, workshop and upholstery studio, all in one. Every day, a carefully selected array of 20th-century furniture arrives from all over the world at the firm’s warehouse, where the team thoroughly examines each piece to determine what, if any, work needs to be done. Whether that means new upholstery or a complete restoration, Morentz's aim is always to honor the designer’s intention while fulfilling the wishes of the client. The team is up to any challenge, from restoring a single piece to its original glory to furnishing a large-scale hotel project.
- Gae Aulenti for Poltronova 'Locus Solus' Daybed in Red SteelBy Poltronova, Gae AulentiLocated in Waalwijk, NLGae Aulenti for Poltronova Production, daybed model 'Locus Solus', red laquered steel, Italy, 1964 This daybed by Gae Aulenti is part of the 'Locus Solus' series created in 1964. T...Category
Vintage 1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Daybeds
MaterialsSteel
- Gae Aulenti for Poltronova 'Locus Solus' Daybed in Chrome-Plated SteelBy Poltronova, Gae AulentiLocated in Waalwijk, NLGae Aulenti for Poltronova Production, daybed model 'Locus Solus', chrome-plated steel, Larsen fabric, Italy, 1964 This daybed by Gae Aulenti is part of the 'Locus Solus' series cr...Category
Vintage 1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Daybeds
MaterialsSteel, Chrome
- Early Gae Aulenti Yellow 'Locus Solus' BenchBy Poltronova, Gae AulentiLocated in Waalwijk, NLGae Aulenti for Poltronova, 'Locus Solus' bench, lacquered tubular steel, fabric, Italy, 1964 Italian designer Gae Aulenti designed the ‘Locus Solus’ seri...Category
Vintage 1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Benches
MaterialsSteel
- Gae Aulenti for Poltronova 'Stringa' SofaBy Poltronova, Gae AulentiLocated in Waalwijk, NLGae Aulenti for Poltranova, sofa model 'Stringa', leather, chromed metal, blue fabric upholstery, Italy, 1962 'Stringa' sofa designed by Gae Aulenti for Poltranova in 1962. A tubula...Category
Vintage 1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Sofas
MaterialsMetal, Chrome
- Gae Aulenti Table Lamp in Plexiglass and MetalBy Gae AulentiLocated in Waalwijk, NLGae Aulenti table lamp, plexiglass, metal, Italy, ca 1970 A charming table lamp designed by Gae Aulenti in 1970. This light has a metal base and a chrome plated sphere, in the spher...Category
Vintage 1970s Italian Post-Modern Table Lamps
MaterialsMetal
- Gae Aulenti for Francesconi ‘Singa’ LampBy Gae AulentiLocated in Waalwijk, NLGae Aulenti for Francesconi, ‘Singa’ lamp, plastic, steel, chrome-plated steel, Italy, 1975 This rare ‘Singa’ lamp is designed by Italian architect and designer Gae Aulenti for Ita...Category
Vintage 1970s Italian Post-Modern Floor Lamps
MaterialsSteel, Chrome
- 20th Century Gae Aulenti for Poltronova Table mod. Locus SolusBy Gae Aulenti, PoltronovaLocated in Turin, TurinGae Aulenti was an Italian designer and architect who was active in furniture design, graphic design, lighting design and interior design. She was known for her contribution to the d...Category
Vintage 1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Tables
MaterialsSteel
- Locus Solus, Gae Aulenti, Single Low TableBy Gae AulentiLocated in Milano, LombardiaMade of steel and fabrics with original and novel patterns, Locus Solus is the collection designed by the unpredictable flair of Gae Aulenti in 1964. The frame of Locus Solus Chair is made of painted stainless steel tubing. The light and colorful structure is reminiscent of a cylinder drawn in the air. For a dynamic and impactful style. This orange bench...Category
Vintage 1960s Italian Post-Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
MaterialsAluminum
- Locus Solus, Gae Aulenti, Orange Set with 4 ChairsBy Gae AulentiLocated in Milano, LombardiaMade of steel and fabrics with original and unprecedented patterns, Locus Solus is a reissue of a collection designed by the unpredictable flair of Gae Aulenti in 1964. The retro des...Category
Vintage 1960s Italian Post-Modern Dining Room Sets
MaterialsAluminum
$13,661 / item - Gae Aulenti Metal Grey Table Locus Solos MidcenturyBy Gae AulentiLocated in Vienna, ATGae Aulenti metal grey table locus solos midcentury. Nice light grey bedside or garden table with perforated tray. Fair to good original condition, s...Category
Vintage 1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
MaterialsSteel
- Locus Solus Orange Dining Table by Gae AulentiBy ExtetaLocated in Milan, ITThis dining table is an original design from the Locus Solus series of outdoor furniture designed by Gae Aulenti in 1964, brought back by Exteta in 2016. The linear frame of tubular ...Category
2010s Italian Patio and Garden Furniture
MaterialsSteel
$2,480 / item - Walnut ‘Arcata’ Coffee Table by Gae Aulenti for Poltronova, Italy 1960sBy Poltronova, Gae AulentiLocated in Chicago, ILAn ‘Arcata’ coffee table designed by Gae Aulenti for Poltronova in the 1960s. This sculptural table was constructed with beautifully grained walnut and features demilune cutout detai...Category
Vintage 1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
MaterialsWalnut