Gio Ponti Chairs
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.
1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Gio Ponti Chairs
Rope, Wood
2010s Italian Gio Ponti Chairs
Leather, Ash
2010s Italian Mid-Century Modern Gio Ponti Chairs
Ash, Leather, Fabric
1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Gio Ponti Chairs
Wood, Rattan
1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Gio Ponti Chairs
Wood, Straw
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Gio Ponti Chairs
Fabric, Wood
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Gio Ponti Chairs
Plywood, Canvas
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Gio Ponti Chairs
Steel
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Gio Ponti Chairs
Velvet
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Gio Ponti Chairs
Bouclé
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Gio Ponti Chairs
Steel
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Gio Ponti Chairs
Brass
1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Gio Ponti Chairs
Cotton, Wood
1980s Italian Vintage Gio Ponti Chairs
Metal
1970s Italian Modern Vintage Gio Ponti Chairs
Leather, Wood
1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Gio Ponti Chairs
Wood, Upholstery
Late 20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Gio Ponti Chairs
Stainless Steel
1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Gio Ponti Chairs
Bouclé, Wood
1980s Italian Vintage Gio Ponti Chairs
Wood
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Gio Ponti Chairs
Rattan, Wood
2010s Italian Mid-Century Modern Gio Ponti Chairs
Fabric, Ash
2010s Italian Mid-Century Modern Gio Ponti Chairs
Rattan, Ash
1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Gio Ponti Chairs
Bamboo, Rattan
2010s Italian Mid-Century Modern Gio Ponti Chairs
Rattan, Ash
1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Gio Ponti Chairs
Cane, Wood
2010s Italian Mid-Century Modern Gio Ponti Chairs
Rattan, Ash
2010s Italian Mid-Century Modern Gio Ponti Chairs
Rattan, Ash
1950s Italian Vintage Gio Ponti Chairs
Wood, Velvet
1970s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Gio Ponti Chairs
Fabric, Ash
1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Gio Ponti Chairs
Wood, Raffia
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Gio Ponti Chairs
Brass
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Gio Ponti Chairs
Brass
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Gio Ponti Chairs
Upholstery, Wood
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Gio Ponti Chairs
Beech
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Gio Ponti Chairs
Rush, Beech, Lacquer
1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Gio Ponti Chairs
Rope, Ash
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Mid-Century Modern Gio Ponti Chairs
Upholstery, Wood
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Mid-Century Modern Gio Ponti Chairs
Cane, Ash
1970s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Gio Ponti Chairs
Fabric, Ash
Mid-20th Century Mid-Century Modern Gio Ponti Chairs
Rush, Mahogany
1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Gio Ponti Chairs
Straw, Wood
1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Gio Ponti Chairs
Upholstery, Ash
1940s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Gio Ponti Chairs
Mahogany
1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Gio Ponti Chairs
Rope, Ash
1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Gio Ponti Chairs
Straw, Wood
1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Gio Ponti Chairs
Faux Leather, Beech
1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Gio Ponti Chairs
Plastic, Walnut
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Gio Ponti Chairs
Brass
1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Gio Ponti Chairs
Rope, Ash
1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Gio Ponti Chairs
Wicker, Wood
1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Gio Ponti Chairs
Papercord, Plastic, Wood
1940s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Gio Ponti Chairs
Rush, Beech
Early 2000s Italian Mid-Century Modern Gio Ponti Chairs
Cane, Ash
1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Gio Ponti Chairs
Upholstery, Ash
1950s European Modern Vintage Gio Ponti Chairs
Velvet, Ash
1970s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Gio Ponti Chairs
Leather, Wood
1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Gio Ponti Chairs
Straw, Wood
1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Gio Ponti Chairs
Bamboo, Rattan