Gio Ponti and Cristina Longo
customized console
customized console
Italy, 1953 / 2011
lacquered Italian walnut, brass 30 h × 37¼ w × 18 d in (76 × 95 × 46 cm)
Architect Cristina Longo appropriated mid-century forms by Gio Ponti for a series of interiors she completed in the 2000s. The original furnishings by Ponti were created for the Royal Hotel in Napoli in the early 1950s. Longo stripped these classic forms down to their essential shapes and gave each a fresh coat of lacquer - white for a home in Florence, red for a home in Rome and stripes for a residence in Paris. The resulting interiors were minimalist in design but also rich and elegant in content.
Sold with a copy of a letter of authentication from Lisa Licitra Ponti.
provenance: Royal Hotel, Naples | Private collection, Rome
exhibited: Centoventi Gio Ponti: Designer Senza Tempo, 26 February - 6 March 2011, Mercanteinfiera, Parma
literature: Gio Ponti: L'Arte Si Innamora Dell'Industria, La Pietra, ppg. 365, 367