Nerone e Patuzzi / Gruppo NP2 C10 Coffee Table For Forme e Superfici, Italy 1971

Nerone e Patuzzi C10 coffee table

Giovanni Ceccarelli, better known by his pseudonym Nerone, was born in Pisa in 1937 and Gianni Patuzzi saw the light of day in Padua in 1932. They met at the Accademia di Belli Arti in Venice and the result of this encounter was a strong friendship. They moved to Turin where they founded the group NP2 in 1962 to search together with other artists for “new sources of poetic expression from materials”. At the time they understood the need to create a direct dialogue between art and the environment. Their works are seen as an integral part of living environments, creating a direct relationship between art, environment and people. Part of this ideal was to free art from the restrictions of museums and galleries and make it accessible to the general public. In practice this meant integrating art in particular into architecture.

NP2's creations have been highly praised for some time now and are loved by an international design-loving audience. These can be admired all over the world, with the enormous bas-relief of twenty-two by six meters in the meeting room of the European Parliament as perhaps the best-known example. Other objects vary from wooden wall panels with beautiful abstract decorative gouged shapes to intriguing zinc bas-reliefs. Almost everything in the same recognizable style that is heavily inspired by constructivism and the Bauhaus movement.

An unconventional approach was also taken for this C10 coffee table, which was sold at the time by the Milanese label Forme and Superfici. The object consists of several layers of wood that have been partly treated with fire, creating a bizarre spectacle. It reinforces the chiaroscuro contrast already created by the accumulation of freely interpreted geometric shapes. The patina that oozes from it is unprecedented and gives a refinement to the wood that shows a variation of deep dark glow alternating with almost golden tones.

A round glass top is supported in an equally unconventional manner, both freely supported by the rubber strip and caps and clamped by the zinc-finished surface. We also see Nerone's signature in the zinc. The condition of this object is very good with natural signs of use such as scratches, discolorations and other imperfections.

This C10 table by Nerone e Patuzzi is officially recognized by the Archivio di Giovanni Ceccarelli, in arte Nerone. The original advert for the table was depicted in Gio Ponti’s Domus 500 magazine July edition of 1971.

Literature: Domus 500, architettura arredamento arte, July 1971.