While he spent the first years of his life in Innsbruck, Austria in 1917, it was on the other side of the Alps that Ettore Sottsass became one of the most significant designers of the second half of the 20th century. He graduated in 1939 after five years of study at Turin Polytechnic. When the sound of boots is heard, the young man is mobilized to fight in the ranks of the Italian army. Quite quickly, Ettore Sottsass lost his freedom and became a prisoner in the mountains of Montenegro, then in a camp in Sarajevo.
Ettore Sottsass (1917-2007)
Table d'appoint
Result: 20800 €
After the fighting had stopped, he took part in the reconstruction of the cities of Novara and Savona and worked in the architectural firm that his father had founded. A few months later, he became self-employed and set up his first design agency in Milan. Fascinated by creative techniques and materials, he is interested - as a self-taught artist - in various disciplines including ceramics, painting and photography. In the mid-1950s, the designer moved to New York and worked for a few months in George Nelson's agency. In addition to a real reflection on monumental dimensions, he refined his knowledge of industrial design.
Ettore Sottsass (1917-2007)
Tappeto Volate
Result: 15600 €
The city, which had meanwhile become one of the epicentres of art, was in turmoil at that time. The indefatigable creator successively discovered Pop Art and the consumer society. Through his wife, the writer Fernanda Pivano, he multiplied his contacts with the emblematic artists and poets of the Beat Generation, including Jack Kerouac, Bob Dylan, Allen Ginsberg and Ernest Hemingway.
Ettore Sottsass (1917-2007)
Specchio Rotondo - Série Bharata
Result: 33800 €
After his return to Italy, he was appointed artistic director of Poltronova, a new furniture company founded by Sergio Cammilli. During this collaboration, which lasted almost ten years, Ettore Sottsass proposed more than fifty projects. In these pieces, colour now occupies a central place. He takes pleasure in combining luxurious elements with materials that are much less luxurious, such as aluminium.