"Capitello" Chair
Franco Audrito and Piero Gatti founded Studio 65 as a radical response to functionalism. The Capitello side chair subverts a traditional icon of classical high culture—the Greek ionic capital and column—and replaces it with a Pop-inspired icon for a new generation skeptical of the establishment. Hard, noble marble is substituted by cushy, cheap, self-skinning polyurethane foam. The load-bearing structural pillar of government and financial institutions is brought down from its lofty heights in the form of a lounge chair that delights and surprises with its irreverent humor and biting sociopolitical critique.
Artwork Details
- Title: "Capitello" Chair
- Designer: Studio 65 (Italian)
- Manufacturer: Gufram (Italian, founded 1952)
- Date: 1971
- Medium: Polyurethane foam, latex rubber containing paint
- Dimensions: 26 1/2 x 40 x 44 1/2 in. (67.3 x 101.6 x 113 cm)
- Classification: Furniture
- Credit Line: Purchase, Friends of Twentieth Century Decorative Arts Gifts, by exchange, 2003
- Object Number: 2003.12a, b
- Rights and Reproduction: © Gufram s.r.l.
- Curatorial Department: Modern and Contemporary Art
More Artwork
Research Resources
The Met provides unparalleled resources for research and welcomes an international community of students and scholars. The Met's Open Access API is where creators and researchers can connect to the The Met collection. Open Access data and public domain images are available for unrestricted commercial and noncommercial use without permission or fee.
To request images under copyright and other restrictions, please use this Image Request form.
Feedback
We continue to research and examine historical and cultural context for objects in The Met collection. If you have comments or questions about this object record, please complete and submit this form. The Museum looks forward to receiving your comments.