Design auction on 18 June 2025
A vibrant selection of objects defines the upcoming Design Auction at Dorotheum, concluding on 18 June 2025 at 3 PM. A total of 207 lots will be offered for sale – including works by renowned artists and designers of the 20th and 21st centuries, as well as a number of rare prototypes and unique pieces.
The auction opens with rare and internationally sought-after works by Franz West, Heimo Zobernig, Johann Rumpf, Michael Young, Oskar Zieta, Paolo Giordano, Nuala Goodman, Ettore Sottsass and Alessandro Mendini. In addition to limited-edition pieces, this section also includes prototypes intended for later model series.
Among the works by Franz West is Lot 6, a set of four chairs. One of them is the so-called “Ficker-Kodu”, produced as a limited edition and offered together with a publication initiated by West himself: Der Ficker, a project whose title recalls Der Brenner, the early 20th-century cultural magazine by Ludwig von Ficker. The lot also includes a “Doku” chair dating from 1997–2003 and two “Kodu” models. These are especially notable for their fabric combinations: the “Doku” chair features matching upholstery on the seat and backrest, while the “Kodu” models use contrasting fabrics.
The subsequent thematic focus on the 1980s is shaped by designs from Martin Szekely, Paolo Pallucco, and Ron Arad.
At the centre of another section of the auction are objects by the Italian design company Superego, founded in 2006. The company continues to collaborate with renowned designers such as Alessandro Mendini, Andrea Branzi, Massimo Giacon, Angelo Mangiarotti, Matteo Cibic, Ugo La Pietra, Sergio Asti, and Martine Bedin. Their works are distinguished by their materials, high-quality craftsmanship, and a strikingly polychrome appearance. This segment is complemented by a selection of unique pieces from the French brand Barrel & Spindel.
The Midcentury section features works by Scandinavian designers such as Hans J. Wegner, Arne Jacobsen, and Arne Vodder. These are joined by international designs from Vladimir Kagan, Mathieu Matégot, Oscar Niemeyer, George Nelson, and Charles & Ray Eames. Austrian manufacturers such as E. Bakalowits & Söhne, J. & L. Lobmeyr, the Werkstätten Hagenauer, and Carl Auböck are also represented with selected objects.
Another area is dedicated to designs from the Bauhaus milieu and its legacy. Featured are works by Paul Klee, Wassily Kandinsky, Eileen Gray, Le Corbusier, Pierre Jeanneret, and Charlotte Perriand.
A remarkable one-of-a-kind piece in the auction is Lot 25, a collier by Ettore Sottsass from 1967. Sottsass symbolically dedicated some of his jewellery pieces to “queens or Sumerian princesses.” In his essay Disegno Magico (Magical Design), he described the idea of imbuing objects with the special qualities once attributed to them in ancient times.
The presented collier combines quartz with a setting made of 22-carat gold. It was produced by the Italian company GEM Montebello, which regularly collaborated with artists such as Lucio Fontana, Piero Dorazio, and Sonia Delaunay. At the time of their creation, these jewellery pieces were considered innovative and rule-breaking, as they challenged the traditional notion of jewellery as a mere status symbol. Today, works of this kind can be found in international museum collections – including the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.
Sottsass is also known for his significant role in the Memphis movement, which was founded in the early 1980s in Milan. Together with designers such as Michele De Lucchi and Matteo Thun, he developed a design language that clearly broke away from the minimalist, functionalist principles of modernism. Striking patterns, bold colour contrasts, and materials such as laminate, plastic, wood, or stone defined the aesthetic of this movement. The functions of the objects were often not immediately apparent – a deliberate break with conventional design norms.
AUCTION
Design, 19 June 2025, 3 pm
Palais Dorotheum, Dorotheergasse 17, 1010 Vienna
Mathias.Harnisch@dorotheum.at
+43-1-515 60-242
