Mirror 1960

Old mirror mirror, asymmetrical shape, said free form, in wood and brass strapping. 44x28cm. In the taste of mirrors by gio ponti, who is one of those creators who invented the design and architecture of the twentieth century. Around 1960. Blackened ice at the ends. Wooden tower painted in ecru. Wooden back. —- Gio ponti was born in milan in 1891 into a well-to-do and cultured family. He began studying architecture at the politecnico in his hometown, but the first world war forced him to interrupt his schooling to join the corps of engineers. He finally graduated in 1921 and settled with two colleagues. Without abandoning the art of the building, gio ponti immediately inscribes his practice in the decoration. "i'm a painter who fell in love with architecture, " he likes to say... He works on interior fittings, patterns, ceramics... In 1923, he was appointed artistic director of the florentine porcelain maker richard ginori. He offers him a new stylistic breath by drawing freely from tradition to give a new breath to his creativity. Two years later, it is the consecration: he receives the grand prize of ceramics at the international exhibition of decorative arts. In the 1930s, gio ponti collaborated with the glassmakers venini and fontana and created a subsidiary called fontana arte to produce contemporary lighting. During the second world war, gio ponti stopped his commercial activity and devoted himself to the design of sets and theater costumes. During the 1960s and 1970s, gio ponti took advantage of the notoriety acquired to embark on projects where his freedom was total. At this time, this bulimic of work who draws and writes incessantly, continues his creations of seats for different manufacturers (poltrona frau, arflex, knoll, artemide...). Thus was born the continuum armchair rattan armchair (1963), the dezza upholstered armchair (1966) and the triposto bench (1968).

Ref. : TSZKDXXF