The collection
Table lamp with short cylindrical base supporting a counterbalanced double shaft and light source.
1972

Table Lamp, Tizio

Designed by
Richard Sapper (1932–2015)
Material
Enameled aluminum, ABS plastic, Durethan plastic
Produced by
Artemide S.p.A., Pregnana Milanese, Italy
Dimensions
119 x 11 x 11 cm

The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, the Liliane and David M. Stewart Collection, D93.232.1

This familiar lamp continues in production to the present day, a standby for both home and office. Weighted so it can be stabilized in any position, Tizio is cantilevered over a small, swiveling cylindrical base with a transformer. Its popularity is due in part to its adjustability and its small footprint.

Halogen lighting, which first appeared in the early 1970s, is long-lasting, very bright, and allows the lamp to be compact. The bulb requires such low voltage that the arms themselves carry the current without wiring that would interfere with the minimal aesthetic. The lamp is matte black with red accents at the pivots and switch, which appealed to modernist reductivist sensibilities.

The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, photo: Giles Rivest.