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.
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Architectural Study
By Ettore Sottsass
Located in Greding, DE
Large format lithograph with architectural study, partly coloured. Signed at lower right. Edition 65/100(?).
Lithograph
La Turbie
By Julian Trevelyan
Located in London, GB
Julian Trevelyan La Turbie, 1974 Etching and aquatint in colours. Pencil signed and titled (lower margin) wit full margins 78.7 x 58.4 cm 31 x 23 in Edition 33 of 52 Julian Trevelya...
Etching, Aquatint
$575
H 17.75 in W 16.75 in
Minaret El Rhamree in Cairo, Egypt: Original 19th C. Lithograph by D. Roberts
By David Roberts
Located in Alamo, CA
This is an original 19th century duotone lithograph entitled "Minaret of the Mosque El Rhamree" by David Roberts, from his Egypt and Nubia volumes of the large folio edition, publish...
Lithograph
$398Sale Price|20% Off
H 24.5 in W 23 in D 0.05 in
France via Bicycle and French Bread serigraph
Located in Spokane, WA
Original France travel by bicycle (and French bread) vintage serigraph poster, excellent condition, ready to frame. These images are of the exact rare poster you will receive. Ar...
Screen
$300
H 14.06 in W 9.93 in
Morningside Park and St. Luke's Hospital
By Charles Frederick William Mielatz
Located in Middletown, NY
A bucolic late 19th century image of upper Manhattan. New York: 1898. Lithograph on tissue-thin Japon paper with a deckle edge, 14 1/8 x 10 inches (357 x 252 mm), the full sheet. Tit...
Lithograph, Handmade Paper
$575
H 17.5 in W 23.75 in
Minaret of a Mosque in Siout, Egypt: Original 19th C. Lithograph by D. Roberts
By David Roberts
Located in Alamo, CA
This is an original 19th century duotone lithograph entitled "Minaret of the Principal Mosque in Siout, Upper Egypt" by David Roberts, from his Egypt and Nubia volumes of the large folio edition, published in London by F. G. Moon in 1849. The lithographs were prepared by Louis Haghe (1806-1885) from drawings and paintings by Roberts. The resultant large folio editions of 'The Holy Land' and 'Egypt & Nubia' are considered the greatest lithographically illustrated works issued in the 19th century. This lithograph depicts an imposing minaret in the background, a large mosque on the left and both sitting and standing groups of Egyptian men in conversation in the foreground. Roberts thought this minaret was the most beautiful he had encountered and was a prime example of the architecture of modern Egypt. It has four balconies with enriched balustrades supported by brackets and corbels...
Lithograph
$5,000
H 22.5 in W 29.5 in D 1 in
Fracas at Calamity's Place 1969 Signed Limited Edition Lithograph
By Warrington Colescott
Located in Rochester Hills, MI
Artist: Warrington Colescott Title Fracas at Calamity's Place Year: 1969 Medium: Lithograph Dimensions: 22.5” x 29.5” inches Edition: Signed, titled, and numbered 32/40 About the A...
Lithograph
$2,280Sale Price|20% Off
H 18.25 in W 22.25 in D 0.75 in
1933 Arnold Rönnebeck Lithograph Colorado Mountain Mine Winter Scene, Framed
By Arnold Rönnebeck
Located in Denver, CO
This rare 1933 lithograph by renowned modernist artist Arnold Rönnebeck depicts a striking winter scene of a Colorado mountain mine blanketed in snow. Rendered in dramatic black-and-...
Lithograph
$1,800
H 22.5 in W 32 in D 1 in
Out my garden window, 1969 Signed Limited edition etching
By Warrington Colescott
Located in Rochester Hills, MI
Artist: Warrington Colescott Title Out My Garden Window Year: 1969 Medium: Color drypoint, soft-ground etching, and aquatint, with roulette, vibrograver, à la poupée inking, found l...
Etching
$775
H 17.5 in W 23.75 in
Principal Mosque Boulak, Cairo, Egypt: Original 19th C. Lithograph by D. Roberts
By David Roberts
Located in Alamo, CA
This is an original 19th century duotone lithograph entitled "Principal Mosque at Boulak" by David Roberts, from his Egypt and Nubia volumes of the large folio edition, published in ...
Lithograph
"Maeght Editeur, " Original Color Lithograph Poster
By Alexander Calder
Located in Milwaukee, WI
"Maeght Editeur" is a color lithograph poster. This poster was for an exhibit on Alexander Calder's work in Paris, France. It depicts a black tree with red fruits on the left side an...
Lithograph
$1,400
H 23.5 in W 28.5 in
Italian Post Modern Pop Art Lithograph Silkscreen Valerio Adami Galerie Maeght
By Valerio Adami
Located in Surfside, FL
Titled Ledoux, color limited edition lithograph. Hand signed by artist in pencil to right hand corner, 101/150 to left. 19.5" X 14" print view area. This is done in a Postmodernis...
Lithograph
Ephesus
By Julian Trevelyan
Located in London, GB
Julian Trevelyan Ephesus, 1974 Etching and aquatint in colours on wove paper, with full margins Signed by the artist's hand in pencil, lower right on recto Annotated with title in pe...
Etching, Aquatint
Sold
H 14.18 in W 14.18 in D 14.18 in
Ettore Sottsass per Poltronova anno 1961 Fioriera Italia Design
By Ettore Sottsass
Located in Pistoia, IT
Fioriera in legno di Ettore Sottsass per Poltronova, 1961. Nato nel 1917 a Innsbruck, in Austria, l'architetto e designer Ettore Sottsass è cresciuto a Milano. Studiò architettura al...
Wood
Canapé Tapis Volant - Circa 1974
By Ettore Sottsass
Located in Saint Ouen, FR
Ettore Sottsass - Canapé Tapis Volant - Circa 1974 Rarissime , voire unique : Canapé Tapis volant d'Ettore Sottsass Circa 1974 217 x 107 x 65 cms Édité par ...
Wood