Pendant Light
Manufactured by Artemide
Italy, 1970s
Metal

Measurements
56d x 115h cm
22d x 45,2h in

Literature
G. Gramigna, Repertorio del design italiano 1950-2000, p. 113, Allemandi, 2003.

Provenance
Private collection, Milano

Biography
Vico Magistretti (b. 1920, Milan) was one of the most influential architects and designers of the 20th century. Born into a family of architects, Magistretti graduated in the field in 1945. It was also in Milan where he developed his professional career, mainly focusing on architecture, urban planning and industrial design. Magistretti made history when he designed the “Eclisse” table lamp for Artemide, a piece composed of two spheres of different diameters, which can be darkened using a rotating cover. Magistretti's work is usually characterised by the use of simple lines and shapes.
Also, one of his most iconic designs is the “Atollo” lamp, a symbol of Italian design all over the world. The secret of this lamp lies in the geometric construction of its shapes: cone, cylinder and hemisphere form a luminous sculpture from which nothing can be removed and to which nothing can be added. The opportunity to reach as many people as possible and to offer affordable prices led him to explore all the possibilities of a new material at the time: plastic. A good example is the “Selene” chair, which he also designed for Artemide in 1969, recognised as the first design made from a single piece of moulded plastic, together with Verner Panton's Panton Chair. As happens in these cases, his democratising endeavour elevated him to the altars of design, and some of his pieces now reside in the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York.