gagosian davies street exhibits furniture from the legendary italian house casa malaparte

from june 15 to september 19, gagosian presents new editions of furniture pieces from the legendary casa malaparte at the davies street gallery in london. built in 1937 in capri, italy, casa malaparte was the residence and architectural brainchild of renowned author and italian avant-garde figure curzio malaparte (born as kurt erich suckert in 1898). for the exhibition, tommaso rositani suckert, malaparte’s youngest descendant, has produced editions of the key pieces of furniture that grace the house to this day: a table, a bench, and a console. additionally, the davies street gallery will be adapted to resemble casa malaparte’s main room, a stone-floored salon with ocean vistas famously featured in jean-luc godard’s film ‘contempt’.casa malaparte, capri, italy, 2019

image by sebastiano pellion di persano

header image and all other images by dariusz jasak

for the exhibition at gagosian davies street, tommaso rositani suckert has produced new editions of key furniture pieces of casa malaparte. the pieces were originally conceived by curzio malaparte in situ while supervising the construction of his residence in a remote plot of land overlooking the tyrrhenian sea. born in 1898 as kurt erich suckert, curzio malaparte was a controversial figure of the italian avant-garde, notorious for vacillating between religious and political ideological extremes. his legendary residence, which he referred to as ‘casa come me’ (house like me), was first conceived by italian architect adalberto libera, though it is said that malaparte ended up rejecting libera’s proposal and proceeded with a design of his own.original walnut and carrara marble bench conceived by curzio malaparte in situ at casa malaparte, capri

designed in its entirety by malaparte, from floor plan to furniture, the house is considered one of the best examples of modern italian architecture. it sits in a secluded location atop a jutting promontory on the eastern side of capri, featuring a red-hued stone exterior with inverted pyramid stairs and a curving white windbreak that arcs across its roof terrace. after malaparte’s death in 1957, the house lives on as an architectural masterwork and platform for contemporary artists and designers.

close-up of original walnut and carrara marble bench

the exhibition at gagosian davies street in london will see the gallery transformed into casa malaparte’s main room, a stone-floored salon with ocean vistas, featured in jean-luc godard’s film ‘contempt’. there, new editions of key pieces of furniture from the house, produced by tommaso rositani suckert, will be on view. manufactured in italy, the table, bench, and console all feature a simple, elegant solid walnut slab with supports in different materials. for the table, this is a pair of columns carved from solid pine in smooth, winding diagonal curves that accentuate the natural patterns of the wood grain; for the bench, the legs are composed of column capitals cut from carrara marble; and for the console, they are made of tuff stone capitals.close-up of original walnut and carrara marble bench

also on view will be a suite of baroque-styled porcelain pieces formerly owned by malaparte. these works, which include floral-studded mirrors and candelabras as well as freestanding sculptures, depict figures and allegorical scenes from classical mythology. combining malaparte’s captivating designs with these personal items, the exhibition will pay homage to the life and spirit of one of the most complex and mysterious figures of the italian avant-garde.

original walnut and pine table

detail of original walnut and pine table

production of the editions of the malaparte furniture production process production process of the marble pieces

production process detail

marble detail during the production process

project info:

name: casa malaparte furniture

venue: gagosian davies street

duration: june 15 – september 19, 2020

location: 17–19 davies street, london, UK