Memphis Design: The Zanone Collection 
3 October 2019
Memphis Design: The Zanone Collection 
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Marco Zanuso

Cleopatra occasional table

Memphis
Italy, 1987
stainless steel, laminated maple, enameled brass 28½ h × 12¾ dia in (72 × 32 cm)
estimate: $700–900
result: $875
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Aluminum manufacturer's label to underside ‘Memphis Milano M. Zanuso Jr. 1987 Made in Italy’.
exhibited: Memphis Milano: 1980s Italian Design, 12 April - 13 July 2014, Dixon Gallery and Gardens, Memphis, TN
literature: Memphis Milano, manufacturer's catalog, 1987, unpaginated

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Living With Memphis

Memphis only lasted six years, yet the radical design collective made a lasting impact on the field of design. Memphis challenged the aesthetics of Modernism and, as Aldo Cibic explains, “reset everything design had seen before”. 

Identifiable and bold, Memphis designs found their way onto movie sets and into the homes of forward-thinking and creative luminaries such as Karl Lagerfeld, whose Monaco penthouse was bursting with the bold designs that he acquired directly from Ettore Sottsass and David Bowie who collected Memphis alongside important modern and postmodern art. Memphis also found its way into retail establishments such as Macy's and Bloomingdale's and in the years since its introduction, museum collections across the globe. 

Dennis Zanone first saw the work of Memphis in 1984 during its first American tour and over the past several decades, he amassed an impressive collection that rivals the depth and breadth of Lagerfeld’s and is the largest since the fashion designer’s, which sold at Sotheby's in 1991. Zanone has lived with Memphis and is a champion of the movement. The incredible group of works offered in this sale has been extensively researched and was the basis of the 2014 Memphis-Milano: 1980s Italian Design exhibition at The Dixon Museum. 

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Karl Lagerfeld and Memphis, 1984 Jurgen Schadeberg / Getty Images

Through my projects I want to give form to what I call complexity.

Marco Zanuso

Marco Zanuso 1916–2001

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Marco Zanuso was a modern Italian artist, architect, designer, and industrial designer. He studied architecture at the Politecnico di Milano from 1935 to 1939 afterwards teaching architecture, design, and urban planning until opening his office in Milan in 1945. In the late 1940s he began collaboration with Arflex to create a furniture collection utilizing a groundbreaking combination of polyurethane foam and elastic tape; his iconic Lady Armchair won the gold medal at Milan’s IX Triennale. Following the end of World War II, he lent his expertise as the co-editor of Domus and editor of Casabella magazine.

From 1957 to 1977 Zanuso partnered with German industrial designer Richard Sapper to create a new brand of techno-functionalist design including, the 1966 Grillo Telephone for Siemens and a series of mobile housing units for the Museum of Modern Art New York’s noteworthy Italy: The New Domestic Landscape exhibition in 1972.

A highly celebrated designer, Zanuso was awarded the Medaglia d'oro and the Gran Premio at the Milan Triennale VIII, IX, X, XI and XIII editions, and won five Compassi d’Oro between 1956 and 1985. His designs are included in many significant global collections including the Triennale Design Museum in Milan, the Arflex Museum in Italy, and the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Marco Zanuso died in 2001 in Milan.

Auction Results Marco Zanuso

Marco Zanuso

Senior lounge chairs, pair

estimate: $5,000–7,000

result: $21,250

Marco Zanuso

Martingala chairs, set of three

estimate: $7,000–9,000

result: $13,750

Marco Zanuso

Senior chairs, pair

estimate: $6,000–8,000

result: $11,875

Marco Zanuso

Regent lounge chairs, pair

estimate: $3,000–5,000

result: $11,250

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