Skip to main content

Gio Ponti

Italian, 1891-1979

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.

to
1
1
1
464
9,484
7,454
6,590
5,853
1
1
1
Designer: Gio Ponti
Gio Ponti The Complete Work 1923 - 1978 1st Edition Hard Cover Book
By Gio Ponti
Located in University City, MO
Gio Ponti The Complete Work 1923 - 1978 1st Edition Hard Cover Book This is the first complete survey and thematic profile of one of the most prolific and accomplished Italian arch...
Category

1990s Italian Gio Ponti

Related Items
Haute Couture & Luxury Leather Goods by Besch Cannes Auction Catalog France 2015
By Yves Saint Laurent
Located in North Hollywood, CA
Haute Couture and Luxury Leather Goods by Besch Cannes Auction Catalog France, Juillet 2015. Regular sales in one of the best luxury hotels of Cannes Haute Couture and luxury leather goods, tableware, luxury leather goods, designer bags, jewels and shoes, signed furs, fashion accessories: all these objects have in common an incomparable know-how and creativity. They are appreciated for their sewing technics, the choice of the fabrics and materials, the quality and rarity of the skins, the originality of their design, the name they bear. They “make” the fashion and necessarily the auction market : Hermès, Louis Vuitton...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary French Gio Ponti

Chanel: The Couturiere at Work Book 1996 1st US Ed. by Amy De la Haye
By Chanel
Located in North Hollywood, CA
Chanel: The Couturiere at Work by Amy De la Haye, Shelley Tobin. Published by Woodstock, N. Y. The Overlook Press, 1994 Victoria & Albert Museum, 1996 - Costume design - 136 pages. '...
Category

20th Century French Gio Ponti

1994 Book On the History & Fashion of Chatelaines
Located in Atlanta, GA
If chatelaines are your thing then curl up with this book for a good dose of eye candy ... if you don't know much about chatelaines then you will have a great appreciation after read...
Category

Mid-19th Century British Gio Ponti

Bulgari Catalog, Jewelry and Watches Collection 2011
Located in North Hollywood, CA
Bvlgari catalog, jewelry and watches. Bulgari "Serpenti" Collection of 2011. Hardcover catalog of one of the most famous Luxury Jewellery maker in the ...
Category

2010s Italian Gio Ponti

Gianni Versace Catalogue No 26 Richard Avedon 1994 Safety Pin Linda Evangelista
By Versace
Located in Cloverdale, CA
Gianni Versace Book No.26 by Richard Avedon 1994 Safety Pin All the Supermodels. Gianni Versace documented every collection in the beginning of his career , hiring the best photograp...
Category

1990s Gio Ponti

Tutankhamun: His Tomb and Its Treasures Hardcover Book
Located in North Hollywood, CA
Tutankhamun: His Tomb and Its Treasures Hardcover Book New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art and Alfred A. Knopf, Inc, 1976. Title: Tutankhamun: His Tomb and Its Treasures Publisher: Random House Inc Publication Date: 1977 Binding: Hardcover Book Condition: Fair First edition. Color and black & white illustrations Language ‏ : ‎ English Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 250 pages Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 3 pounds Format Hardcover Large size: 11.50 x 9 x 1 in. Published on the occasion of the exhibition "Treasures of Tutankhamun" at the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. and others in the U.S. Never before in the literature—or the photography—of Egyptology has a book displayed so richly the splendors of ancient Egyptian art...
Category

Late 20th Century Egyptian Gio Ponti

The Beauty of Jewellery by Joan Frank Hardcover Book 1979
Located in North Hollywood, CA
The Beauty of Jewellery by Joan Frank Crescent Books, 1979 - Jewelry - 93 pages. An appreciation of fine jewelry for the non-expert, with a chapter on the collection at the Victoria ...
Category

20th Century Gio Ponti

Horst Interiors Coffee Table Book, 1993
Located in Atlanta, GA
Fascinating people in their stylish interiors ... Horst Interiors by Barbara Plumb, published in 1993, showcases the artful photography of Horst P. Horst, famed fashion and interiors...
Category

1990s American Gio Ponti

  • Horst Interiors Coffee Table Book, 1993
  • Horst Interiors Coffee Table Book, 1993
  • Horst Interiors Coffee Table Book, 1993
  • Horst Interiors Coffee Table Book, 1993
H 12.5 in. W 9.5 in. D 1.25 in.
Louis Vuitton Paris Auction Catalog 2019 by Gros & Delettrez
By Louis Vuitton
Located in North Hollywood, CA
Louis Vuitton Paris Auction Catalog 2019 Published by Gros & Delettrez, 2019 307 lots Gros & Delettrez 15 Avril 2019 Title: Louis Vuitton Paris Auction Catalog 2019 Book Publisher: Gros & Delettrez Publication Date: 2019 Binding: Soft cover Condition: Good. Title: Louis Vuitton Paris Auction Catalog 2019. Dimensions: 11 3/4' x 8 1/4". Great reference book catalog on rare vintage high end collection from Louis Vuitton Paris France.
Category

21st Century and Contemporary French Gio Ponti

Atelier Versace Gianni Couture 1989 1990 Faustus Theater Book Magazine Catalog
By Gianni Versace
Located in PARIS, FR
Atelier Versace catalog about the 1989-90 collection! Wonderful illustrations such as: Doctor Faustus Elton John David Bowie Eric Clapton Sting Cher Chaka Capriccio The passion of ...
Category

1980s Gio Ponti

My Life in Focus: A Photographer's Journey with Elizabeth Taylor
Located in North Hollywood, CA
My Life in Focus: A Photographer's Journey with Elizabeth Taylor and the Hollywood Jet Set. Hardcover book by Gianni Bozzacchi and Joey Tayler. When Gianni Bozzacchi accepted an ass...
Category

Late 20th Century American Gio Ponti

Hermes Vintage Paris Auction Catalog 2014 Published by Gros & Delettrez
By Hermès
Located in North Hollywood, CA
Paris Hermes Vintage Auction Catalog June 2014 Published by Gros & Delettrez, Hermes Vintage Paris Auction Catalog 2014. Published by Gros & Delet...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary French Gio Ponti

Gio Ponti fashion for sale on 1stDibs.

Find an extraordinary range of authentic Gio Ponti fashion available on 1stDibs. If you’re browsing our collection of unique vintage and designer fashion to elevate your daily look or to introduce new colors to the dazzling formal wear in your wardrobe, this designer’s body of work includes elements of blue and other tones. On 1stDibs, find haute couture, vintage and designer Gio Ponti fashion from top boutiques around the world. Gio Ponti fashion prices can differ depending upon time period and other attributes. On 1stDibs, the price for these items starts at £1,512 and tops out at £1,512, while the average work can sell for £1,512.

Recently Viewed

View More