Robert Sambonet

From fashion shows at La Rinascente department stores to the Electrogas saucepan set, from posters for the Max Meyer paint company and the Pinacoteca di Brera to Baccarat crystal vases, the graphics and designs of Roberto Sambonet were landmarks in the everyday lifestyle and culture of Italy's boom years. The exhibition staged by Palazzo Madama showcases more than 800 works, with objects, designs and paintings - some of which never displayed before - from the Roberto Sambonet archives. This fast-paced critical examination probes the approach of Sambonet, who would observe, select, transform and reconstruct nature to arrive at the pure essentiality of form. Sambonet's background (his father's cutlery factory, his artistic training at the Accademia di Brera, travels in Brazil and his friendship with Alvar Aalto) and works merge to form a thematic itinerary that is faithfully reflected in the sections of the catalogue, revealing the profound unity of Sambonet's research.His spontaneous architectural sketches in Brazil were transformed into fabric patterns and the reflections of the sea into chrome-plated steel surfaces; faces resemble the portraits of sponges and fossils, and the concentric spirals of shells are evident in the vertigo of Center Line. More than 400 colour plates, obtained through archival research as well as a specific photo campaign, illustrate the key themes of Sambonet's path, which culminates with the extensive sections devoted to graphics and design, complete with lucid commentaries. This book also contains essays by Domenico De Maio, Gillo Dorfles, Flaminio Gualdoni, Franco Origoni and Benedetto Orsi, and entries by Elisa Camesasca.