Pair of Wall Lamps Model 50 by Gino Sarfatti for Arteluce, 1968
View Similar Items
Pair of Wall Lamps Model 50 by Gino Sarfatti for Arteluce, 1968
About the Item
- Creator:Gino Sarfatti (Designer),Arteluce (Manufacturer)
- Dimensions:Height: 25.6 in (65 cm)Width: 2.76 in (7 cm)Depth: 1.78 in (4.5 cm)
- Sold As:Set of 2
- Style:Mid-Century Modern (Of the Period)
- Materials and Techniques:Aluminum,Lacquered
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:1970s
- Condition:Wear consistent with age and use. Because of their age the colour of the lamps changed however from white to off-white.
- Seller Location:Rotterdam, NL
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU2839312323661
Gino Sarfatti
That a spiky, futuristic chandelier named “Sputnik,” which was highly suggestive of the Soviet satellite of the same name, designed by an Italian engineer could predate the space age and the satellite’s launch by a few decades is the stuff of legend. But in 1939, Venetian-born Gino Sarfatti channeled his obsession with light and expert engineering skills into a design so bold it predicted the future. He would go on to design around 700 lighting products in his lifetime — each table lamp, wall light, pendant and chandelier superb and unorthodox in shape.
Sarfatti’s singular focus on creating opulent lighting designs that were rational in their use of resources makes him one of the most innovative lighting designers in history. He was studying to be an aeronautical engineer at the University of Genoa when his family’s financial troubles led him to drop out and move to Milan to help. During this time, he built a lamp for a friend using a coffee machine’s electric components and a glass vase. This exercise sparked his fascination with lighting, and he went on to found Arteluce in 1939. What followed was a period of working with skilled artisans and tinkering with materials instead of sketching. The self-taught designer soon established himself as a creator of provocative, sculptural luxury lighting. Through the company, he collaborated with some of the 20th century’s most influential designers, such as Vittoriano Viganò, who worked on Arteluce lighting between 1946 and 1960. In the 1950s and ’70s, Franco Albini, Franca Helg, Ico Parisi and Massimo Vignelli all contributed designs.
Sarfatti used resources mindfully and injected functionality into everything he designed. His light fixtures were lightweight, easy to take apart and reassemble and could be affordably repaired. This marriage of utilitarianism and glamour lent Sarfatti’s designs a clean, minimal yet arresting splendor, based on their graphical forms and construction.
After World War II, Sarfatti embraced new wiring technologies and materials like plexiglass, such as his 1972 project with Carlo Mollino that filled the Teatro Regio in Turin with hundreds of plexiglass pipes. In 1973, Sarfatti sold Arteluce to FLOS. His foresight, invention and fearlessness as a designer are revered to this day.
Find a collection of vintage Gino Sarfatti lighting now on 1stDibs.
Arteluce
The lighting maker Arteluce was one of the companies at the heart of the creative explosion in postwar Italian design. The firm’s founder and guiding spirit, Gino Sarfatti (1912–85), was an incessant technical and stylistic innovator who almost single-handedly reinvented the chandelier as a modernist lighting form.
Sarfatti attended the University of Genoa to study aeronautical engineering but was forced to drop out when his father’s company went out of business. His mechanical instincts led him to turn his attention to lighting design — and he founded Arteluce as a small workshop in Milan in 1939. Sarfatti’s father was a Jew, so the family fled to Switzerland in 1943, but after the war — largely thanks to Sarfatti’s insistence on efficiency of design and manufacture — Arteluce quickly established itself as a top firm. Though Sarfatti continued as chief designer through the 1950s and ’60s, he also enlisted other designers such as Franco Albini and Massimo Vignelli to contribute work. Sarfatti sold Arteluce to FLOS — a rival Italian lighting maker — in 1973 and retired to pursue a more traditional avocation: collecting and dealing rare postage stamps.
Sarfatti is regarded by many collectors as a pioneer of minimalist design. He pared down his lighting works to their essentials, focusing on practical aspects such as flexibility of use. His most famous light, the 2097 chandelier, is a brilliant example of reductive modernist design, featuring a central cylinder from which branches numerous supporting fixtures extending like spokes on a wheel. Similarly, his 566 table lamp is a simple canister, able to be raised or lowered on a stem, holding a half-chrome bulb. Despite the marked functionality of his designs, Sarfatti did have a sprightly side: His 534 table lamp, with its cluster of rounded enameled shades, resembles a vase full of flowers, the Sputnik chandelier (model 2003) was inspired by fireworks and the brightly colored plastic disks of the 2072 chandelier look like lollipops. No matter the style, Sarfatti concentrated first and foremost on the character of light created — and any Arteluce lamp is a modernist masterpiece.
- Model 50 Wall Lamp by Gino Sarfatti for Arteluce, 1968By Arteluce, Gino SarfattiLocated in Rotterdam, NLOff-white lacquered Model 50 wall lamp by Gino Sarfatti for Arteluce, designed in 1968 and manufactured in the 1970s. Marco Romanelli and Sandra Severi describe the wall lamp in '...Category
Vintage 1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Wall Lights and Sconces
MaterialsMetal
- Pair of Model 586 table lamps by Gino Sarfatti for Arteluce, 1960sBy Gino Sarfatti, ArteluceLocated in Rotterdam, NLPair of polished aluminium Model 586 table lamps, designed in 1962 by Gino Sarfatti for Arteluce. As mentioned in the AL Milano catalogue: "Table or floor spherical reflector, in po...Category
Vintage 1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Table Lamps
MaterialsAluminum
- Dalia Wall Lamp by Gino Marotta for Design Centre, 1960sBy Design Centre, Gino Marotta, Francesconi Fratelli, Brescia 1Located in Rotterdam, NLDalia wall or ceiling lamp designed by Gino Marotta for Design Centre and manufactured by Francesconi. It is the interpretation of the dahlia flower. Executed in opalescent methacryl...Category
Vintage 1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Wall Lights and Sconces
MaterialsMetal
- Table Lamp Model No. 526 by Massimo Vignelli for Arteluce, 1965By Massimo Vignelli, ArteluceLocated in Rotterdam, NLThis elegant lamp model 526 was designed in 1965 by Massimo Vignelli for Italian lighting manufacturer Arteluce. Model 526 is a table lamp with a base that consists of three concave...Category
Vintage 1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Table Lamps
MaterialsMetal
- Pair of Sisten Wall Lamps by Gianni Celada for Fontana Arte, 1970sBy Gianni Celada, Fontana ArteLocated in Rotterdam, NLBlue and black pair of Sisten wall lamps designed by Gianni Celada and produced by Fontana Arte, 1973. These wall lamps are part of the Sisten series; consisting of various wall and...Category
Vintage 1970s Italian Mid-Century Modern Wall Lights and Sconces
MaterialsMetal
- Model 524 Table Lamp by Franco Albini & Franca Helg for Arteluce, 1960sBy Arteluce, Franco Albini and Franca HelgLocated in Rotterdam, NLModel 524 table lamp designed by Franco Albini and Franca Helg and manufactured by Arteluce. The model consists of eight rectangular transparent Perspex panels that are placed in ...Category
Vintage 1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Floor Lamps
MaterialsMetal
- Pair of Italian Sconces Model 237/2 by Gino Sarfatti for Arteluce 50s Wall LampBy Gino Sarfatti, ArteluceLocated in Lyon, FRPair of wall lamps model 237/2 of the famous Italian designer Gino Sarfatti published by Arteluce in the 1950s. Black lacquered metal structure (original paint) and double diffusers ...Category
Vintage 1950s French Mid-Century Modern Wall Lights and Sconces
MaterialsMetal
- Gino Sarfatti for Arteluce Pair of Model 238/1 Wall Lamp, Italy 19850sBy Arteluce, Gino SarfattiLocated in Naples, ITPair of wall sconces mod. 238/1 design Gino Sarfatti production Arteluce 1952. Painted metal structure and blown glass diffuser. Original electrical system, In excellent condition.Category
Vintage 1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Wall Lights and Sconces
MaterialsMetal
- Gino Sarfatti for Arteluce Pair of Model 238/2 Wall Lamp, Italy 1960sBy Arteluce, Gino SarfattiLocated in Naples, ITRare and Original two pair of vintage wall sconces, model 238/2 by Gino Sarfatti for Arteluce, Milan. Italy, 1960 Two spherical diffusers with clear glass, resting on black lacquered...Category
Vintage 1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Wall Lights and Sconces
MaterialsMetal
- Gino Sarfatti Wall Lamps Model 238/2 Arteluce, 1960By Gino Sarfatti, ArteluceLocated in Roosendaal, Noord BrabantPair of wall lamps model 238/2 designed by Gino Sarfatti, manufactured by Arteluce, Italy 1960. This pair of wall lamps are an iconic and famous design by Sarfatti. There are many di...Category
Vintage 1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Wall Lights and Sconces
MaterialsAluminum
- Gino Sarfatti Wall Lamps Model 237/3 Arteluce, 1959By Gino Sarfatti, ArteluceLocated in Roosendaal, Noord BrabantPair of wall lamps model 237/3 designed by Gino Sarfatti, manufactured by Arteluce, Italy 1959. This pair of wall lamps are an iconic and famous design by Sarfatti. There are many di...Category
Vintage 1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Wall Lights and Sconces
MaterialsMetal, Aluminum
- Model 237-3 wall lamp by Gino Sarfatti for Arteluce, Italy 1950'sBy Arteluce, Gino SarfattiLocated in Steenwijk, NLThis amazing wall sconce was designed by Gino Sarfatti for Arteluce in the 1950's. It has an elegant black lacquered metal frame that holds 3 transparent glass globes. With the right...Category
Vintage 1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Wall Lights and Sconces
MaterialsMetal