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Commode column

Ettore Sottsass Italian, born Austria
Not on view
Returned to lender
This work of art was on loan to the museum and has since been returned to its lender.
Commode Column evolved from the Tower Furniture developed for Mario Tchou. Here, Sottsass creates an interrelationship between object and user that dominates his later work. The column forces the user to move around it in order to experience and fully utilize it. This piece is a prototype that Sottsass designed for his own apartment, perhaps with some reference to the storage units by Charles and Ray Eames that he admired, which were also constructed with off-the-shelf industrial parts. The grid patterning and geometric forms tie it to Viennese modernism.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Commode column
  • Artist: Ettore Sottsass (Italian (born Austria), Innsbruck 1917–2007 Milan)
  • Medium: Laminated wood, painted steel, Allen keys
  • Dimensions: 85 7/16 × 19 7/8 × 19 7/8 in. (217 × 50.5 × 50.5 cm)
  • Classification: Furniture
  • Credit Line: Collection of Rob Beyer
  • Rights and Reproduction: Studio Ettore Sottsass Srl
    Christie’s Images Limited 2017
  • Curatorial Department: Modern and Contemporary Art