- Title
- Esfera Lounge Armchair
- Date Made
- 1968, manufactured 1974
- Medium
- Fiberglass, polyester resin, suede, and stainless steel
- Dimensions
- 35 1/2 × 44 × 42 in. (90.17 × 111.76 × 106.68 cm)
- Accession Number
- M.2023.33a-c
- Collecting Area
- Latin American Art
- Curatorial Notes
São Paulo−born Ricardo Fasanello first ventured into the world of design with the dream of creating race cars. After relocating to Rio de Janeiro, he shifted his focus to furniture production. The Esfera (Sphere) lounge armchair, first created in 1968, is one of Fasanello’s most famous designs. He employed his signature tortoiseshell fiberglass to fashion a half-sphere that holds suede cushions. This futuristic design reimagines the silhouette of the chair, reflecting Fasanello’s lifelong fascination with speed and aerodynamics. His use of fiberglass and polyester resin—materials frequently associated with industrial design—represented a significant innovation for modern furniture in Brazil.
LACMA’s chair swivels on a stainless-steel base, which Fasanello used only in his earliest versions of the Esfera. In later iterations, which remain in production to this day, he replaced the metal base with fiberglass to make the chair lighter. This Esfera is one of two sold to Brazilian ambassador Italo Mastrogiovanni in 1974. The pair traveled the world to the ambassador’s postings in Geneva, Porto, and Abidjan, showcasing Brazilian design on an international scale before returning to São Paulo.
Rachel Kaplan
2024
- Provenance
Italo Mastrogiovanni (1932–2021, São Paulo, Geneva, Porto, and Abidjan), 1974; by inheritance to his wife Mariela Mastrogiovanni, São Paulo, 2021; Andrea Tarnowski Fasanello, Rio de Janeiro, 2022; LACMA, 2023.
