Gino Sarfatti is among the most significant Italian designers of the mid and late 20th century; he is unanimously considered the first great designer of the lighting industry in Italy.

Born in Venice and trained in Genoa, Sarfatti became Milanese in 1935, first collaborating with the Lumen lighting company and then founding Arteluce Società Anonima A.L. But it was the horrible age of the racial laws, hence the company started its production at full capacity only after the end of the war. In 1949 a plant was opened at via Bellinzona 48; the following year Vittoriano Viganò took over the artistic management of the company and in 1953 Marco Zanuso renovated the first Arteluce shop on corso Matteotti. The shop itself is the keystone to understanding Arteluce and its founder's creations.

It was here, in fact, that Sarfatti managed to meet his customers' tastes; if a displayed lamp was requested, several pieces of the model would be made without creating prototypes and with a limited production of no more than a dozen pieces. The shop became the meeting place of a refined group of architects and decorators who would use Sarfatti's lights as furnishings for the Milanese middle-class, who in those years were rebuilding their image in part through prestigious houses and offices. (by Cristiano Collari)

There were numerous friends and collaborators of Arteluce such as Franco Albini, Sergio Asti, BB PR studio members, Gianfranco Frattini, Ico Parisi, Massimo Vignelli and many others. In the ‘60s, the historic shop on corso Matteotti was replaced by a larger space on via della Spiga, and among the great lighting projects of that decade were the Genoa museums, Milan Castle, the Michelangelo, Biancamano, Andrea Doria and Raffaello ocean liners, renowned Villaggio Eni in Cadore and finally the Teatro Regio in Turin, renovated by Carlo Mollino for which Sarfatti designed and built a large cloudshaped installation. In December 1973, at the peak of his entrepreneurial success, Sarfatti transferred Arteluce to Flos, a company founded about ten years before.

The research of innovative solutions with regard to materials, light sources, production techniques and scenic effects was the strength of Gino Sarfatti's projects. He designed and produced hundreds of models and received numerous awards throughout his career, such as the Compasso d'Oro for the 559 and 1055 models in 1954-55, as well as two gold medals during the Milan Triennial X and XV .

In 2018 Aste Bolaffi presented a pair of floor lamps by Sarfatti that, rising from 7,000 euros, were sold for almost double the starting price. And considering last season’s success, we are happy to include some of his other works in the May catalogue, such as a set of three floor lamps (1073 model) made in 1956 and a large collection of wall lamps, including some 232 models, created in 1961.

AUCTION
Wednesday 8 May 2019 - Garage Bolaffi, corso Verona 36E, Torino
3pm

VIEWING
from Friday 3 to Wednesday 8 May 2019 from 11am until 7pm
Garage Bolaffi, corso Verona 36E, Torino

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