'Callimaco' Ettore Sottsass for Artemide 1980s floor lamp

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.

Artemide is an iconic firm in the design world. The mid-century Italian company is one of the best known lighting manufacturers and its award-winning fixtures are held in museum collections everywhere. Vintage Artemide table lamps, pendants, ceiling lamps and other lighting represent a thoughtful merge between functionalism and eye-catching design.

Artemide, which is based in Pregnana, was founded by Ernesto Gismondi and Sergio Mazza in 1959. During that year, Mazza created the first table lamp for the manufacturer — a modernist work in glass, marble and metal that he called the Alfa. Gismondi, who studied aeronautical engineering at the Polytechnic University of Milan and missile engineering at Rome’s Professional School of Engineering, applied his knowledge of cutting edge technology and materials such as fiberglass resin to Artemide’s designs for lighting and furniture.

In 1967, Artemide won Italy’s Compasso d'Oro design award for its Eclisse table lamp, which was designed by Vico Magistretti two years earlier. Other award-winning fixtures include the Tizio table lamp designed by Richard Sapper and the Tolomeo table lamp.

Designed by Michele de Lucchi and Giancarlo Fassina, the Tolomeo featured the patented George Carwardine mechanism used in the original Anglepoise lamp. De Lucchi would later be recruited to join visionary postmodern design collective the Memphis Group. Artemide’s Gismondi purchased the brand after founder Ettore Sottsass dismantled the collective in 1988, and it was bought by Alberto Bianchi Albrici in 1996.

Artemide’s list of design, innovation, sustainability and other industry awards is long and distinguished. The firm continues to actively collaborate with internationally revered designers and seek out new talent through workshops with design schools. The company’s deeply held values — energy-saving lighting, sustainable design and ethically sourced materials — characterize its current offerings, and Artemide furniture and lighting can be found in the permanent collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Museum of Modern Art and other institutions.

On 1stDibs, find Artemide tables, seating, floor lamps, chandeliers and more.