Italian Design: Lighting and furniture by Editor

In 2002, Ettore Sotsass declared that "design is not about giving shape to a more or less stupid product for a more or less luxurious industry. Design is a way of discussing life". This aphorism is to be understood as a direct legacy of the 60s, when Italy witnessed a golden age of design, with architects and entrepreneurs teaming up to found furniture publishing companies for the general public. At the height of the "Glorious 30s", which saw the development of new markets for household consumption, this relationship with industry aimed to democratize new forms of furniture adapted to contemporary life. The result was a series of designs that have since become iconic for their extremely expressive plastic language and their intrinsic desire to "look at everyday life with an ever-new eye". From this Made in Italy in touch with everyday life and the spirit of innovation, our sale will feature several pieces of furniture and lighting imagined by Vico Magistretti for Artemide, whose delightfully "Space-Age" aesthetic is based on an innovative and experimental relationship with materials and gives pride of place to "functional aesthetics" ("il bel design"). Futuristic and inventive, the Milanese designer's creations are combined in iconic pieces such as the "Dalù" and "Nesso" lamps, or those from the Reglar® collection in glass-fibre-fortified polyester. Between creative heritage and contemporary life, several of Vetreria Vistosi's creations will also be represented, including designs by the great Gae Aulenti, whose soft lines testify to her relationship with furniture as the logical complement to the architecture it is destined to "dress". The collection also includes two remarkable glass sculptures by Luciano Vistosi, whose technical virtuosity unfolds in delicate, poetic forms. Through this sale, the Department of 20th Century Decorative Arts celebrates the innovation and socio-cultural research that have fueled Italian design, determined to put people and feelings back at the heart of creation.