Gaetano Pesce, RIP

We have been collecting art since we graduated from college. We are drawn to various mediums, from paintings to charcoals to sculptures and more. We have met some of the artists we have collected, but not enough.

I purchased a piece from Gaetano Pesce years ago. His big rubbery vaselike structures. The one we own sits in a corner. He was a multi-faceted artist who worked as an architect, an industrial planner, an urban planner, and a lover of color. I love this quote, “One day, you have an idea for a poem; the next, you have an idea for a song. The best artists are also physicians, mathematicians, and musicians. That’s how I like to work.”

His most famous piece is the “Up” chair pictured above, which he designed in 1969 for C&B Italia. The chair is an ode to women; as he said, “Women suffer from the prejudice of men.” Amen.

He died last week at the age of 85. I read many of his obituaries, and this particular quote stuck with me. “I believe that the treasure of the world is diversity. If we are all the same, we can not talk because there is nothing to say. But if you and I are different, there is a lot to exchange.” Not only an incredible artist but a very wise man. If only we could all think this way.