20Lucio Fontana and Osvaldo BorsaniWall-mounted console, designed for the dining room of Casa S., Milancirca 1950 Marble, gilded and painted wood. 99.6 x 260.2 x 47.6 cm (39 1/4 x 102 1/2 x 18 3/4 in.) Produced by Arredamenti Borsani, Varedo, Italy. Together with a certificate of expertise from the Osvaldo Borsani Archive. Estimate £100,000 - 150,000 ♠ Place Advance BidContact Specialist Madalena Horta E Costa Head of Sale, Associate Specialist +44 20 7318 4019 MHortaECosta@phillips.com
Condition ReportSign UporLog InDescriptionOur Buyer's Premium has been updated. View our Conditions of Sale.ProvenanceCasa S., Milan Private collection, MilanLiteratureGiuliana Gramigna and Fulvio Irace, Osvaldo Borsani Rome, 1992, pp. 194-95 Irene de Guttry and Maria Paola Maino, Il Mobile Italiano Degli Anni '40 e '50, Bari, 2010, p. 112 Giampiero Borsani, Osvaldo Borsani architect, designer, entrepreneur, Milan, 2018, illustrated pp. 361, 566 Tommaso Fantoni, Norman Foster, and Giampiero Bosoni, Osvaldo Borsani exh. cat., Milan, 2018, pp. 75, 94Catalogue EssayPhillips wishes to thank the Osvaldo Borsani Archive for their assistance cataloguing the present lot. Sculptural Extension: Lucio Fontana and Osvaldo Borsani's Wall-mounted Console The present wall-mounted marble console designed by the architect Osvaldo Borsani features a sculptural support conceived and painted by his friend and collaborator the artist Lucio Fontana The console belongs to a series of furniture and interiors designed by Borsani that incorporate painted or sculptural works by Fontana, providing a visual versatility that could respond to a client’s individual requirements and taste. Having embraced new ideological and technological advances throughout his career, Borsani played an instrumental role in the formation of Italian modernist design, while remaining dedicated to the country’s tradition of craftsmanship and quality of materials. This enduring commitment paired with his pursuit and understanding of design as addressing more than the functional underscored Borsani’s collaborative approach to his work. Fontana’s own spatial research and exploration of dimensionality provided an intersection for artistic exchange between the architect and artist, which expanded the expressive possibilities of both their practices. Synthesising classical and modern vocabularies, the present wall-mounted console dates from the early 1950s during which Borsani’s work was expanding from the highly customised artisan production of Arredamenti Borsani Varedo towards the industrial design of Tecno, while coinciding with the transition in Fontana’s work from his Baroque-inspired forms to Spatialism. While referencing Baroque ceiling frescoes, the console’s sculptural extension from the wall also parallels Fontana’s investigation into dissolving its physical dimension, reflecting his and Borsani’s shared desire to address conventional relationships between the object and its surrounding space. Borsani received his early training under his father Gaetano Borsani, whose firm he continued to work for throughout his studies at the Politecnico di Milano, where he graduated with a degree in architecture in 1937. The family workshop in Varedo was highly regarded for its craftsmanship, an influence that would remain central to Borsani’s own design practice, in addition to the impact of his father’s appreciation for art. During the 1930s, Gaetano began collaborating with contemporary artists to produce customised furniture and interior schemes for the firm’s Milanese upper middle class clientele. Before graduating from the Politecnico, Borsani had studied at the Accademia di Brera, where he had first encountered Fontana along with the artists Arnaldo Pomodoro and Fausto Melotti who would become the next generation of Italy’s avant-garde. Sharing his father’s interest in contemporary art and recognising the creative and experimental potential of a collaborative approach to design, Borsani’s œuvre makes evident the many professional relationships and friendships he formed with artists during his career, which in addition to Fontana, Pomodoro and Melotti also notably included Roberto Crippa Giò Pomodoro Aligi Sassu Agenore Fabbri and Andrea Cascella With a desire to bring art into the everyday environment, Borsani fostered a dialogue within his practice that extended beyond the traditional bounds of architecture and design. This interdisciplinary approach flourished in the con
20Lucio Fontana and Osvaldo BorsaniWall-mounted console, designed for the dining room of Casa S., Milancirca 1950 Marble, gilded and painted wood. 99.6 x 260.2 x 47.6 cm (39 1/4 x 102 1/2 x 18 3/4 in.) Produced by Arredamenti Borsani, Varedo, Italy. Together with a certificate of expertise from the Osvaldo Borsani Archive. Estimate £100,000 - 150,000 ♠ Place Advance BidContact Specialist Madalena Horta E Costa Head of Sale, Associate Specialist +44 20 7318 4019 MHortaECosta@phillips.com
Condition ReportSign UporLog InDescriptionOur Buyer's Premium has been updated. View our Conditions of Sale.ProvenanceCasa S., Milan Private collection, MilanLiteratureGiuliana Gramigna and Fulvio Irace, Osvaldo Borsani Rome, 1992, pp. 194-95 Irene de Guttry and Maria Paola Maino, Il Mobile Italiano Degli Anni '40 e '50, Bari, 2010, p. 112 Giampiero Borsani, Osvaldo Borsani architect, designer, entrepreneur, Milan, 2018, illustrated pp. 361, 566 Tommaso Fantoni, Norman Foster, and Giampiero Bosoni, Osvaldo Borsani exh. cat., Milan, 2018, pp. 75, 94Catalogue EssayPhillips wishes to thank the Osvaldo Borsani Archive for their assistance cataloguing the present lot. Sculptural Extension: Lucio Fontana and Osvaldo Borsani's Wall-mounted Console The present wall-mounted marble console designed by the architect Osvaldo Borsani features a sculptural support conceived and painted by his friend and collaborator the artist Lucio Fontana The console belongs to a series of furniture and interiors designed by Borsani that incorporate painted or sculptural works by Fontana, providing a visual versatility that could respond to a client’s individual requirements and taste. Having embraced new ideological and technological advances throughout his career, Borsani played an instrumental role in the formation of Italian modernist design, while remaining dedicated to the country’s tradition of craftsmanship and quality of materials. This enduring commitment paired with his pursuit and understanding of design as addressing more than the functional underscored Borsani’s collaborative approach to his work. Fontana’s own spatial research and exploration of dimensionality provided an intersection for artistic exchange between the architect and artist, which expanded the expressive possibilities of both their practices. Synthesising classical and modern vocabularies, the present wall-mounted console dates from the early 1950s during which Borsani’s work was expanding from the highly customised artisan production of Arredamenti Borsani Varedo towards the industrial design of Tecno, while coinciding with the transition in Fontana’s work from his Baroque-inspired forms to Spatialism. While referencing Baroque ceiling frescoes, the console’s sculptural extension from the wall also parallels Fontana’s investigation into dissolving its physical dimension, reflecting his and Borsani’s shared desire to address conventional relationships between the object and its surrounding space. Borsani received his early training under his father Gaetano Borsani, whose firm he continued to work for throughout his studies at the Politecnico di Milano, where he graduated with a degree in architecture in 1937. The family workshop in Varedo was highly regarded for its craftsmanship, an influence that would remain central to Borsani’s own design practice, in addition to the impact of his father’s appreciation for art. During the 1930s, Gaetano began collaborating with contemporary artists to produce customised furniture and interior schemes for the firm’s Milanese upper middle class clientele. Before graduating from the Politecnico, Borsani had studied at the Accademia di Brera, where he had first encountered Fontana along with the artists Arnaldo Pomodoro and Fausto Melotti who would become the next generation of Italy’s avant-garde. Sharing his father’s interest in contemporary art and recognising the creative and experimental potential of a collaborative approach to design, Borsani’s œuvre makes evident the many professional relationships and friendships he formed with artists during his career, which in addition to Fontana, Pomodoro and Melotti also notably included Roberto Crippa Giò Pomodoro Aligi Sassu Agenore Fabbri and Andrea Cascella With a desire to bring art into the everyday environment, Borsani fostered a dialogue within his practice that extended beyond the traditional bounds of architecture and design. This interdisciplinary approach flourished in the con
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