Designer of a Thousand Talents
Gio Ponti: Designer of a Thousand Talents
Denver Art Museum
100 W. 14th Avenue Parkway, Denver, CO 80204
October 24, 2021–January 1, 2025
Admission: Adults: $18 for Colorado residents, $22 for non-residents; seniors, students, & military: $15 for Colorado residents, $19 for non-residents; youth 18 and under and members: free
Review by Paloma Jimenez
Celestial inspiration encounters geometric precision in the Gio Ponti exhibition, Designer of a Thousand Talents, at the Denver Art Museum. Spanning a liminal, light-filled space between the more formal galleries in the redesigned Martin Building, the collection of architectural drafts and interior objects display a small but enticing sampling of Ponti’s prolific oeuvre. The Italian designer collaborated with master artisans throughout his career to elevate raw materials into imaginative, functional works.
An installation view of the exhibition Gio Ponti: Designer of a Thousand Talents at the Denver Art Museum. Image courtesy of the Denver Art Museum.
Many Denverites pass by a Gio Ponti design on a daily basis. Completed in 1971, the Martin Building, which Ponti designed with James Sudler Associates, houses the DAM’s permanent collection, and its gray-tiled facade stands out from the more predictable grids of downtown’s other high-rises. The approximately one million glass tiles affixed to the outside of the building shift in the light with the stormy blur of a Gerhard Richter painting. “A thin exterior wall, with twenty-eight vertical surfaces of varying planes and changing dimension, wraps the entire building,” expressing Ponti’s interest in sculpturally complex architecture. [1]
The revitalized Gio Ponti tube entrance into the Martin Building at the Denver Art Museum. Photo by James Florio Photography, courtesy of the Denver Art Museum.
From the exterior, the windows read like Modernist Morse code, while an interior experience turns the hard lines of the window slots into a protean galaxy of light. Ponti guides solar rays throughout the galleries with poetic aplomb. Strips, spots, and cubes of light unpredictably stream across the rooms and shift throughout the day, depending on the sun’s preference.
Gio Ponti, Elevation (a-i Façade), 1967, pencil and colored pencil on tracing paper, 20.5 x 42 inches. Image courtesy of the Denver Art Museum.
This interest in celestial happenings recurs throughout Ponti’s work, and his architectural plans for the Martin Building could easily be mistaken for spacecraft drafts. We gain valuable insight into his design process through these preliminary sketches and models. The drawing Elevation (a-i Façade) is both a futuristic language and an exercise in classic geometric principles. More than most architects, Ponti understood that an art museum is a portal for time-travel.
Gio Ponti, Superleggera Chair (model 699), 1957, lacquered ash and cane, 32.375 x 15.875 x 18 inches, manufactured by Cassina, Meda, Italy. Image courtesy of the Denver Art Museum.
Gio Ponti, Writing Desk, about 1935, walnut, brass, and nickel-plated brass, 35.5 x 45 x 19.5 inches, manufactured by Cassina, Meda, Italy. Image courtesy of the Denver Art Museum.
Ponti’s pursuit of geometric beauty also manifests in his furniture designs. The Superleggera Chair (model 699), a delicate line drawing of a chair composed of ideally proportioned rectangles, almost hovers about the plinth. Achieving a similar linear harmony, the walnut Writing Desk holds itself up on slender feet. The arched and angular storage compartments, designed to hold writing instruments and ephemera, resemble an elegant architectural façade—it could be a building in a Giorgio de Chirico landscape. Swirling burl wood grain and brass hardware complete the vision.
Gio Ponti, Italian Triumph Demitasse Set, 1967, porcelain, manufactured by Richard Ginori, Milan, Italy, from the collection of Kirkland Museum of Fine and Decorative Art. Image by Paloma Jimenez.
The line between design and art has always been tenuous. Though Ponti worked towards elevating functional experiences, he often collaborated with the artists of his time. He also developed his own index of symbols to adorn many of his tableware. In the porcelain white Italian Triumph Demitasse Set, gold luster glazed objects float around the clean lines of the vessels, including windows, swords, hands, stars, hearts, leaves, a compass, chains, and even what appears to be a representation of Ponti’s own chair design. The glinting constellation is meant to hold hot tea, cream, sugar, and a sweet treat. In this teatime delight, Ponti reminds us that the home is a model of the universe.
Gio Ponti, The Four Seasons Plates, about 1930, porcelain, 9.75 inches in diameter each, manufactured by Richard Ginori, Milan, Italy. Image courtesy of the Denver Art Museum.
Other ceramic tableware on display reveal Ponti’s interest in natural cycles. A series of porcelain plates, Le Quattro Stagioni (The Four Seasons), depicts people joyfully reaping harvests throughout the year. The stylized shading and muscular forms display Ponti’s interest in Italian Futurism, while the delicate glaze application attests to the porcelain expertise of the manufacturer, Richard Ginori. Ponti persistently imagined original designs and developed new methods with master artisans to manufacture his unique visions. He harnessed the power of collective experience. For Ponti, a prolific architect, industrial and furniture designer, and more, the cycles of mass production mirrored the cycles of life.
Gio Ponti, Portrait of an Architect Tile, about 1930, earthenware ceramic, 5.75 x 5.75 inches, manufactured by Richard Ginori, Milan, Italy. Image courtesy of the Denver Art Museum.
A view of the exhibition Gio Ponti: Designer of a Thousand Talents at the Denver Art Museum. Image by Paloma Jimenez.
The Denver Art Museum exhibition offers an introduction to Gio Ponti’s sixty-year career, which resulted in an impressive array of projects that still remain influential. He fully embraced the allure of a beautiful façade, while still adhering to functional integrity. Ponti’s designs celebrate the inherent traits of a material—whether it be wood, ceramic, marble, glass, or steel—and transform them into a delightful sensorial experience.
Gio Ponti, Pyramidal Exterior Tile for the Denver Art Museum, about 1969, glass, 5.875 x 2.875 x .375 inches, manufactured by Corning Glass Works, Corning, New York. Image courtesy of the Denver Art Museum.
A view of the stairwell in the Martin Building at the Denver Art Museum, featuring red and white pyramidal glass tiles designed by Gio Ponti in about 1969. Image by Paloma Jimenez.
After leaving the exhibition, I stood waiting for the elevator and peered into a nearby glass door. I was delighted to notice that the far wall of the emergency exit stairwell was tiled with the same pyramidal tiles as the outside of the Martin Building—this time in an arresting cardinal red. It was unexpected, but not surprising. Ponti rigorously pursued aesthetic ideals even in the most overlooked areas of life.
Paloma Jimenez (she/her) is an artist, writer, and teacher. Her work has been exhibited throughout the United States and has been featured in international publications. She received her BA from Vassar College and her MFA from Parsons School of Design.
[1] From an informational plaque in Gio Ponti: Designer of a Thousand Talents at the Denver Art Museum.
