Paolo Buffa - 20th Century & Contemporary Art & Design Evening Sale Hong Kong Saturday, May 26, 2018 | Phillips

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  • Provenance

    Private Collection, Italy

  • Literature

    'Alcuni Mobili di Paolo Buffa', Domus, no. 178, October 1942, p. 431 for a similar example
    Roberto Aloi, L’Arredamento Moderno, quarta serie, Milan, 1949, fig. 366 for a similar example
    Roberto Rizzi, I mobile di Paolo Buffa, exh. cat., Mostra Internazionale dell'Arredamento, Cantù, 2002, pp. 30, 34-35 for a drawing and images of a similar example

  • Catalogue Essay

    Upon graduating from the Politecnico di Milano in 1927, Paolo Buffa worked in the studio of Gio Ponti and Emilio Lancia, before opening his practice with fellow architect Antonio Cassi Ramelli the following year. By the mid-1930s Buffa had established his own studio, where the Milanese architect designed expertly crafted furniture featuring intricate inlays and combining luxurious materials for an elite clientele. Buffa developed close relationships with cabinetmaking workshops in Brianza, renowned for their traditional furniture manufacturing, and during the following decades collaborated with some of the period’s most skilled artisans, including Fratelli Lietti, Marelli e Colico, and Cassina di Meda. These relationships enabled Buffa to introduce a modern vocabulary into his work whilst adhering to Milan’s heritage of artisan furniture production, in order to realise inventive furniture designs that revealed a skilful union of design and execution.

    The present pair of armchairs designed by Buffa during the 1950s elegantly balance comfort and functionality with high-quality craftsmanship and materials: the refined, articulated lines of the armchair’s frame countering the volume of its cushions. Coinciding with contemporary debates about the role of design and its responsibility to the larger population, Buffa reworked the presiding neoclassical idiom. The architect incorporated simplified forms into his designs in order to streamline production techniques, whilst always retaining a high regard for materials and harmonious portions. His designs were featured in important publications, such as Roberto Aloi’s L’arredamento moderno series, through which a coherent evolution can be traced in Buffa’s work as he interpreted the formal elegance of Italian design with a subtle yet recognisably modern rigour.

52

Pair of armchairs

1950s
walnut, fabric
Each: 84.2 x 64.8 x 74.5 cm. (33 1/8 x 25 1/2 x 29 3/8 in.)
Designed in the 1950s. Each frame impressed I and II respectively. Together with a certificate of authenticity from the Paolo Buffa Archive.

Estimate
HK$75,000 - 95,000 
€8,100-10,200
$9,600-12,200

Sold for HK$125,000

Contact Specialist
Jonathan Crockett
Deputy Chairman, Asia and Head of 20th Century & Contemporary Art, Asia
+852 2318 2023

Isaure de Viel Castel
Head of Department
+852 2318 2011

Sandy Ma
Head of Sale
+852 2318 2025

20th Century & Contemporary Art & Design Evening Sale

Hong Kong Auction 27 May 2018