Gio Ponti: Fascination for Ceramics

One of the last century's leading architects and industrial designers, Gio Ponti (1891-1979) was at the helm of Italy's massive design renaissance in the years following World War Two, becoming particularly celebrated for his incredibly lightweight "Superleggera" ("Superlight") chairs of the late 1950s. Ponti initially studied architecture but abandoned it upon graduation to take up a position as art director at the Milanese ceramics manufacturer, Richard-Ginori. He remained at the...
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One of the last century's leading architects and industrial designers, Gio Ponti (1891-1979) was at the helm of Italy's massive design renaissance in the years following World War Two, becoming particularly celebrated for his incredibly lightweight "Superleggera" ("Superlight") chairs of the late 1950s. Ponti initially studied architecture but abandoned it upon graduation to take up a position as art director at the Milanese ceramics manufacturer, Richard-Ginori. He remained at the company for the rest of the decade, designing ceramic, porcelain and majolica vases, bowls, figurines and trays that infused a Wiener Werkstätte elegance with his own love of visual storytelling. Ponti embellished his works with images of shapely women enveloped by tufts of clouds or resting upon classical architecture, animals in flight, and boats sailing upon rough, wave-filled seas. This volume appraises Ponti's ceramic oeuvre for the first time.