В 1939 г. великий итальянский архитектор Джо Понти, сотрудничавший с миланской газетой «Corriere della Sera» с 1933 г. до конца своих дней в качестве журналиста, в одной из своих газетных статей написал: «Большую часть времени мы проводим на работе, поэтому пространство, в котором мы работаем, должно быть в значительной степени пригодным, привлекательным и цивилизованным».
За три года до этого Понти – по заказу руководства газеты – спроектировал многофункциональный рабочий стол для журналистов, за которым могли одновременно трудиться от трех до шести человек (практически семейное застолье!). Поскольку Понти был очень доволен концепцией, он обратился к выдающемся столяру по имени Пьерлуиджи Гианда с просьбой изготовить прототип.
Как пишет внучка Гианды, стол получился «прекрасным, совершенным, драгоценным, солидным, но ужасно дорогим в производстве», в результате чего журналисты получили более дешевые модели, а прототип так и остался стоять в центре ателье Гианды «как воплощение мастерства дизайнера и изготовителя».
P.S. В 1970-х гг. некая миланская компания выпустила стол, вдохновленный работой Понти, но гораздо менее вдохновенный (см. последнее фото).
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In 1939, the great Gio Ponti, who was also a contributor to Milan’s Corriere della Sera with a total of 130 articles written from 1933 to his death, wrote an article that stated, "We spend most of our time at work and so the working environment needs to be a very suitable, attractive and civil space".
Three years earlier, he conceived an element of such a working environment at the request of the newspaper’s owner, a multifunctional desk for journalists that could seat three to six persons (just like a family dining table). Ponti was very fond of his design and reached out to an outstanding carpenter named Pierluigi Ghianda to create a prototype.
According to Ghianda’s granddaughter, the table turned out to be “beautiful, perfect, precious, imposing but also very expensive to make,” which is why the journalists received cheaper pieces and the prototype remained forever in Ghianda’s workshop “as an emblem of mastery in design and execution.”
P.S. In the 1970s, a certain Milan-based company released an office desk clearly inspired by Ponti’s original design which was admittedly much less inspiring (pictured in the last image here).
(photos: courtesy of Maria Luisa Ghianda via doppiozero.com, piasa.fr, ponteonline.com)
За три года до этого Понти – по заказу руководства газеты – спроектировал многофункциональный рабочий стол для журналистов, за которым могли одновременно трудиться от трех до шести человек (практически семейное застолье!). Поскольку Понти был очень доволен концепцией, он обратился к выдающемся столяру по имени Пьерлуиджи Гианда с просьбой изготовить прототип.
Как пишет внучка Гианды, стол получился «прекрасным, совершенным, драгоценным, солидным, но ужасно дорогим в производстве», в результате чего журналисты получили более дешевые модели, а прототип так и остался стоять в центре ателье Гианды «как воплощение мастерства дизайнера и изготовителя».
P.S. В 1970-х гг. некая миланская компания выпустила стол, вдохновленный работой Понти, но гораздо менее вдохновенный (см. последнее фото).
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In 1939, the great Gio Ponti, who was also a contributor to Milan’s Corriere della Sera with a total of 130 articles written from 1933 to his death, wrote an article that stated, "We spend most of our time at work and so the working environment needs to be a very suitable, attractive and civil space".
Three years earlier, he conceived an element of such a working environment at the request of the newspaper’s owner, a multifunctional desk for journalists that could seat three to six persons (just like a family dining table). Ponti was very fond of his design and reached out to an outstanding carpenter named Pierluigi Ghianda to create a prototype.
According to Ghianda’s granddaughter, the table turned out to be “beautiful, perfect, precious, imposing but also very expensive to make,” which is why the journalists received cheaper pieces and the prototype remained forever in Ghianda’s workshop “as an emblem of mastery in design and execution.”
P.S. In the 1970s, a certain Milan-based company released an office desk clearly inspired by Ponti’s original design which was admittedly much less inspiring (pictured in the last image here).
(photos: courtesy of Maria Luisa Ghianda via doppiozero.com, piasa.fr, ponteonline.com)
Как мы уже писали, Фрэнсис Бэкон начинал с оформления интерьеров, и, хоть впоследствии «слово “оформительство” было одним из самых грубых в его лексиконе», как рассказывает друг и биограф Бэкона Майкл Пеппиатт, именно короткий период работы интерьерным дизайнером на рубеже 1920-1930-х гг. и подготовил его к живописи. Помимо проектов интерьеров и мебели Бэкон в этот период создал еще и ряд интересных ковров: если рассмотреть первые сохранившиеся живописные работы художника, то станет очевидно, что в эволюции его творчества ковры (и как минимум одна ширма) были «переходной формой» или даже «недостающим звеном», учитывая, что Бэкон уничтожил многие свои ранние произведения. Но если мебель Бэкона была явно вдохновлена Баухаусом, то ковры обнаруживают влияние Пикассо, Жана Люрса, Фернана Леже и других авангардистов, в тот период возрождавших французское ковроткачество с легкой руки Мари Кюттоли.
В 1933 г. Бэкон распрощается с дизайном и всецело посвятит себя живописи. Тем не менее, дизайнерский опыт в дальнейшем будет эхом отзываться во многих его работах, а наряду с кистями Бэкон будет использовать рейсшину, которая останется в его мастерской до конца его дней.
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As we have already mentioned, Francis Bacon began his career as an interior designer, and although, as his friend and biographer Michael Peppiatt recounts, “Decoration was one of the foulest words in his vocabulary after that," it was this brief period in interior design in the late 1920s and early 1930s that set the stage for his subsequent career in painting. In addition to interior and furniture designs, Bacon also created a series of remarkable rugs. If one is to explore the artist's earliest surviving paintings, it becomes clear that rugs (and at least one screen) were a "transitional form" in the evolution of his work (we may even stretch this metaphor further and refer to this oeuvre as a "missing link", considering that Bacon destroyed many of his early works). While his furniture was clearly inspired by Bauhaus, his carpets reveal the influence of Picasso, Jean Lurçat, Fernand Léger, and other avant-garde artists who were reviving French tapestry-making under the guidance of Marie Cuttoli at the time.
In 1933, Bacon would abandon his career in design and devote himself entirely to painting. That said, his design experience would later echo in many of his works. He would even paint using his T-square, a tool that would remain in his studio for the rest of his life.
(photos: The Estate of Francis Bacon, xennex via wikiart.org, selvedge.org, DCMS/PA via theguardian.com,sothebys.com, vam.ac.uk, artchive.com, architectureforlondon.com, seattleartistleague.com, fb-akermariano.blogspot.com, worldartfoundations.com, Adagp via apollo-magazine.com, christies.com)
В 1933 г. Бэкон распрощается с дизайном и всецело посвятит себя живописи. Тем не менее, дизайнерский опыт в дальнейшем будет эхом отзываться во многих его работах, а наряду с кистями Бэкон будет использовать рейсшину, которая останется в его мастерской до конца его дней.
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As we have already mentioned, Francis Bacon began his career as an interior designer, and although, as his friend and biographer Michael Peppiatt recounts, “Decoration was one of the foulest words in his vocabulary after that," it was this brief period in interior design in the late 1920s and early 1930s that set the stage for his subsequent career in painting. In addition to interior and furniture designs, Bacon also created a series of remarkable rugs. If one is to explore the artist's earliest surviving paintings, it becomes clear that rugs (and at least one screen) were a "transitional form" in the evolution of his work (we may even stretch this metaphor further and refer to this oeuvre as a "missing link", considering that Bacon destroyed many of his early works). While his furniture was clearly inspired by Bauhaus, his carpets reveal the influence of Picasso, Jean Lurçat, Fernand Léger, and other avant-garde artists who were reviving French tapestry-making under the guidance of Marie Cuttoli at the time.
In 1933, Bacon would abandon his career in design and devote himself entirely to painting. That said, his design experience would later echo in many of his works. He would even paint using his T-square, a tool that would remain in his studio for the rest of his life.
(photos: The Estate of Francis Bacon, xennex via wikiart.org, selvedge.org, DCMS/PA via theguardian.com,sothebys.com, vam.ac.uk, artchive.com, architectureforlondon.com, seattleartistleague.com, fb-akermariano.blogspot.com, worldartfoundations.com, Adagp via apollo-magazine.com, christies.com)