'Donau' Postmodern Armoire by Ettore Sottsass & Marco Zanini for Leitner, 1986

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'Donau' Postmodern Armoire by Ettore Sottsass & Marco Zanini for Leitner, 1986

About the Item

This rare Postmodern 'Donau' armoire by Ettore Sottsass and Marco Zanini for Franz Leitner (Austria) was executed from Birdseye Maple in 1986 and can serve equally as appropriately as a piece of modern art for your home as it can serve you as a functional object. The tall slender shape with tubular legs and simple hardware give this piece such great personality and style - transforming what would otherwise just be furniture into something personified, like sculptures can do to a home, and as you would expect from the leaders in Post-Modern Memphis art and design. This functional art piece can also serve as an excellent storage object - whether it be a wardrobe or armoire for your bedroom, a hall or entry coat cabinet, in a large walk-in closet, or in your living room or entertainment room to house all of your miscellaneous. One shelf is located at the top of the interior and underneath that is a hanging rod for you to hang shirts, jackets, sweaters and more. One clever way of using this Ettore Sottsass armoire slash Post Modern art is to keep it by your front door and reserve it for inbound and outbound dry cleaning for your household. This Postmodern cabinet by Ettore Sottsass & Marco Zanini for Franz Leitner would work great in a Postmodern, Mid-Century Modern, Scandanavian Modern or Danish modern home or penthouse apartment but could also look fantastic in a Contemporary or Zen / Minimalism room. Also consider mixing it up in a Traditional, Transitional, Classical or Art Deco room with a splash of juxtaposition. Would also be an apt choice in a commercial project such as a hotel lobby lounge or members club, creative design studio or high-rise executive office. Literature: Franz Leitner Product Catalogue. Measurements: H 82.25" x W 35.5" x D 25.5" Condition: Overall very good to excellent condition. A few scattered areas with light scuffs and light scratches. One small section with veneer split (shown in photos) will be repaired prior to shipping, will still be noticeable upon close inspection but not to visible from normal view. One small hole for cables / cords cut out from interior bottom as can be seen in photos. Upon request, we can fill this hole but will be left otherwise. Presents excellently, overall great collectors example ready for immediate use.

Creator:
Franz Leitner (Maker),Ettore Sottsass (Designer),Marco Zanini (Designer)
Dimensions:
Height: 82.25 in (208.92 cm)Width: 35.5 in (90.17 cm)Depth: 25.5 in (64.77 cm)
Style:
Post-Modern (Of the Period)
Materials and Techniques:
Birdseye Maple,Metal,Veneer
Place of Origin:
Austria
Period:
1980-1989
Date of Manufacture:
1986
Condition:
Overall very good to excellent condition. See description for greater condition details.
Seller Location:
Los Angeles, CA
Reference Number:
1stDibs: LU1330218647362

Shop All Ettore Sottsass

Ettore Sottsass

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.

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