Returned to lender The Met accepts temporary loans of art both for short-term exhibitions and for long-term display in its galleries.
La Societa' del Pianeta
Ettore Sottsass Italian, born Austria
Not on view
Sottsass’s Ruins collection for Design Gallery Milan captures a poignant moment in his late career. We find him introspective and questioning his impact. Does it all come to ruins? The bed is the pinnacle of his many "small architectures" and tower like totemic forms. In this romantic piece, Sottsass echoes several ruins of time. The headboard evokes a medieval tower with a lookout for a love-starved Rapunzel. The footboard is a sensuous scroll of fine pearwood, a contemporary twist that alludes to Gio Ponti’s neoclassical furnishings as well as the fulcra of a triclinium, a lounge chair used by ancient Romans. Sottsass may have doubted his ability to connect the logic of his designs, but the depth of his references to the ancient, the medieval, and the modern are as clear as day.
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