Fabio de Sanctis and Ugo Sterpini

Officina 11 was the name that Fabio de Sanctis and Ugo Sterpini adopted for their collaborative artistic efforts in the early 1960s.   Both designers were born and educated in Italy.  Ugo Sterpini was classically trained as a painter, while Fabio de Sanctis worked as both an architect and designer.  De Sanctis also associated with and was greatly influenced by a group of international Surrealist artists organized by André Breton, which included Man Ray, Roberto Matta, and Meret Oppenheim. 

The current lot was included in the Museum of Contemporary Crafts of the American Craftsmen’s Council organized by Paul Smith.  De Sanctis and Sterpini showed nine works, which were displayed alongside pieces by Wendell Castle, Thomas Simpson and Pedro Friedeberg.  The designs shown in the exhibition were imaginative handmade works, free of traditional constraints and classically conceived functionality of pieces of furniture.