An architect, furniture and industrial designer and editor, Gio Ponti was arguably the most influential figure in 20th-century Italian modernism.
Ponti designed thousands of furnishings and products — from cabinets, mirrors and chairs to ceramics and coffeemakers — and his buildings, including the brawny Pirelli Tower (1956) in his native Milan, and the castle-like Denver Art Museum (1971), were erected in 14 countries. Through Domus, the magazine he founded in 1928, Ponti brought attention to virtually every significant movement and creator in the spheres of modern art and design.
The questing intelligence Ponti brought to Domus is reflected in his work: as protean as he was prolific, Ponti’s style can’t be pegged to a specific genre.
In the 1920s, as artistic director for the Tuscan porcelain maker Richard Ginori, he fused old and new; his ceramic forms were modern, but decorated with motifs from Roman antiquity. In pre-war Italy, modernist design was encouraged, and after the conflict, Ponti — along with designers such as Carlo Mollino, Franco Albini, Marco Zanuso — found a receptive audience for their novel, idiosyncratic work. Ponti’s typical furniture forms from the period, such as the wedge-shaped Distex chair, are simple, gently angular, and colorful; equally elegant and functional. In the 1960s and ’70s, Ponti’s style evolved again as he explored biomorphic shapes, and embraced the expressive, experimental designs of Ettore Sottsass Jr., Joe Colombo and others.
Ponti's signature furniture piece — the one by which he is represented in the collections of the Museum of Modern Art in New York, Germany’s Vitra Design Museum and elsewhere — is the sleek Superleggera chair, produced by Cassina starting in 1957. (The name translates as “superlightweight” — advertisements featured a model lifting it with one finger.)
Ponti had a playful side, best shown in a collaboration he began in the late 1940s with the graphic artist Piero Fornasetti. Ponti furnishings were decorated with bright finishes and Fornasetti's whimsical lithographic transfer prints of things such as butterflies, birds or flowers; the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts possesses a 1950 secretary from their Architetturra series, which feature case pieces covered in images of building interiors and facades. The grandest project Ponti and Fornasetti undertook, however, lies on the floor of the Atlantic Ocean: the interiors of the luxury liner Andrea Doria, which sank in 1956.
Widely praised retrospectives at the Queens Museum of Art in 2001 and at the Design Museum London in 2002 sparked a renewed interest in Ponti among modern design aficionados. (Marco Romanelli’s monograph, which was written for the London show, offers a fine overview of Ponti’s work.) Today, a wide array of Ponti’s designs are snapped up by savvy collectors who want to give their homes a touch of Italian panache and effortless chic.
Find a range of vintage Gio Ponti desks, dining chairs, coffee tables and other furniture on 1stDibs.
Gio Ponti's "Conversazione classica" Vintage Fabric Panel by Avigdor
By Gio Ponti
Located in Saint-Didier, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur
Gio Ponti's "Conversazione classica" Vintage Fabric Panel by Avigdor texte : Extremely rare fabric panel designed by Gio Ponti and produced by famous Turin based textile house, Avig...
Fabric
Marilyn Forever VI (Limited Edition Print)
By Mauro Oliveira
Located in LOS ANGELES, CA
**ANNUAL SUPER SALE UNTIL APRIL 15TH ONLY** *This Price Won't Be Repeated Again This Year - Take Advantage Of It* The one and only Marilyn Monroe as you have never s...
Giclée, Cotton Canvas
$899
H 15.75 in W 12.6 in D 0.4 in
Baroque religious devotional engraving and embroidery, representing the Virgin o
Located in Valladolid, ES
Exquisite and iconic Baroque religious devotional engraving and embroidery, 18th century, depicting Our Lady of Mercy with the Child Jesus, framed in its original carved and polychro...
Silk, Paper
$995
H 32 in W 32 in D 0.1 in
Personalities (Limited Edition Of Only 30 Prints)
By Mauro Oliveira
Located in LOS ANGELES, CA
**FALL SUPER SALE TIL OCT. 13TH - TAKE ADVANTAGE OF IT** **IMPORTANT** This is a Limited edition of 30 museum quality prints on CANVAS, signed and numbered by the artist. It will ar...
Canvas
Personalities (Limited Edition Print)
By Mauro Oliveira
Located in LOS ANGELES, CA
**FALL SUPER SALE UNTIL OCT. 13TH - TAKE ADVANTAGE OF IT** Limited edition of 30 museum quality prints on CANVAS, signed and numbered by the artist. The print look like as the PRI...
Canvas, Cotton Canvas
$1,350
H 48 in W 60 in D 0.1 in
Colorful Futuristica City (Limited Edition Print of only 30)
By Mauro Oliveira
Located in LOS ANGELES, CA
**FALL SUPER SALE TIL OCT. 13TH - TAKE ADVANTAGE OF IT** **IMPORTANT: This is a limited edition print on CANVAS. It will arrive rolled inside a tube.** The print will look like as the PRIMARY picture. The Colorful FUTURISTICA series is another Oliveira's copyrighted geometric design. You will only find this mesmerizing colorful geometric piece here. On each piece, the size, the design and the colors are never the same. The design is slightly changed to give your very own futuristic city...
Canvas
$895
H 32 in W 32 in D 0.1 in
The Notorious Elizabeth Taylor White Diamonds (Limited Edition Print)
By Mauro Oliveira
Located in LOS ANGELES, CA
**ANNUAL SUPER SALE UNTIL JUNE 15TH ONLY** *This Price Won't Be Repeated Again This Year-Take Advantage Of It* **IMPORTANT: This is a limited edition print on premium canvas. It Will arrive rolled inside a tube. THE NOTORIOUS...
Cotton Canvas
$795
H 30 in W 45 in D 0.1 in
All We Need Is Love I (Limited Edition Print)
By Mauro Oliveira
Located in LOS ANGELES, CA
**FALL SUPER SALE UNTIL OCT. 13TH - TAKE ADVANTAGE OF IT** The print will look like as the PRIMARY picture of this posting. Celebrating the Beatles by Mauro Oliveira. The colorful ...
Cotton Canvas
$3,200
H 19.5 in W 15.125 in D 2 in
Steve Kaufman "Abraham Lincoln" 1990 Artist Proof Serigraph, Hand Signed Verso
By Steve Kaufman
Located in Miami, FL
STEVE KAUFMAN – "ABRAHAM LINCOLN" ⚜ Serigraph on Canvas ⚜ Initialed Verso ⚜ Edition 48/50 AP ⚜ Black Float Frame VIBRANT POP ICONOGRAPHY OF AN AMERICAN LEGEND This bold 1990 serigra...
Screen, Canvas
Banana Republic (Limited Edition Print)
By Mauro Oliveira
Located in LOS ANGELES, CA
**ANNUAL SUPER SALE UNTIL MAY 15TH ONLY** THIS PRICE WON'T BE REPEATED AGAIN THIS YEAR - TAKE ADVANTAGE OF IT** **IMPORTANT: This is a Limited edition of 30 museum quality prints on...
Cotton Canvas
$590
H 40 in W 40 in D 0.1 in
Marilyn Forever VIII (White) (Limited Edition Print)
By Mauro Oliveira
Located in LOS ANGELES, CA
**ANNUAL SUPER SALE UNTIL JANUARY 31ST ONLY** *This Price Won't Be Repeated Again This Year-Take Advantage Of It* Celebrating the one and only Marilyn Monroe by this ori...
Giclée, Canvas
Marilyn Forever IV (Limited Edition Print)
By Mauro Oliveira
Located in LOS ANGELES, CA
**ANNUAL SUPER SALE UNTIL APRIL 15TH ONLY** *This Price Won't Be Repeated Again This Year-Take Advantage Of It* Celebrating the one and only Marilyn Monroe by Mauro Ol...
Canvas, Cotton Canvas
Marilyn Forever II (Limited Edition Print)
By Mauro Oliveira
Located in LOS ANGELES, CA
**ANNUAL SUPER SALE UNTIL APRIL 15TH ONLY** **This Price Won't Be Repeated Again This Year - Take Advantage** Celebrating the one and only Marilyn Monroe by Mauro Olive...
Giclée, Cotton Canvas
Sold
H 6.7 in W 4.65 in D 0.4 in
La Ballata del Carcere - Rare Book Illustrated by Gio Ponti - 1920
By Gio Ponti
Located in Roma, IT
La Ballata del Carcere di Reading is an original Rare Book written by Oscar Wilde and illustrated by Gio Ponti (Milan, 18 November 1891 - Milan,...
Paper, Offset