Gio Ponti

Biography

Gio Ponti, born in Milan in 1891, made an important contribution to 20th century Italian design history not only as an architect, but also as a furniture designer and publicist.

After completing his studies at the Politecnico in Milan, he gained his first experience as a designer at the porcelain manufacturer *Richard Ginori* in 1923. His designs are still being produced today, while the porcelain objects created in the 1920s and 1930s are very rare and in demand on the art market.

Ponti designed his first house, Casa Ponti on Via Randaccio in Milan, in 1925. Two years later, he founded his first office with Emilio Lancia. From the beginning, Ponti was keen to coordinate the architecture of a house and the interior.

In 1928, together with Gianni Mazzocchi, he founded the architecture and design magazine DOMUS , which he ran, with only an interruption from 1941 to 1947, until his death. Not only were national trends in art, design and architecture published in DOMUS, but also the designs of international artists and architects, therefore the magazine is still an important source for art historians and architects. Gio Ponti supported the most important shows in Italian design - the Monza Biennale, the Milan Triennale, the Compasso d'Oro and the Italian Association for Industrial Design ADI. Later, in 1941, he also founded the magazine 'Stile'.

In his long career, Ponti has created many partnerships with fellow architects, designers and painters. His partnership with Antonio Fomaroli and Eugenio Soncini began in 1933, with whom he designed some school and office buildings such as the Montecatini building. Together with Antonio Fornaroli and Pier Luigi Nervi, he created the Pirelli skyscraper, which has since become a symbolic building of modern Milan.

In the 1940s, Ponti showed a strong interest in furniture and object design. He supplied designs for Venini and De Poli. In the 1950s, his most famous villas in Caracas, such as Villa Planchart and Villa Arreaza, were created, as well as numerous furniture designs - side tables, sideboards, lamps, his famous 'Superleggiera' chair and 'Distex' armchairs.

Furniture from the Hotel Parco dei Principi in Rome was successfully auctioned by Quittenbaum, including a chest of drawers with the final bid of 30,000 euros and a pair of armchairs for 25,000 euros. In addition, there are frequent Ponti designs in our Murano glass collection and top prices have gone to porcelain objects by Richard-Ginori.

Rarities on the art market also include the designs that Gio Ponti realized together with Piero Fornasetti. Fornasetti provided the surface of elegant furniture with his fantastic decorations. The essay secretary ‘Trumeau’ with an illusionistic architectural backdrop fetched 52,000 euros; a desk with decorations of greeting cards and business cards went to a collector for 11,000 euros.