Image: Artizon Museum, Tokyo
Artizon Museum in Tokyo has highlighted a forthcoming or ongoing exhibition on Ettore Sottsass by directing followers to a key reference book on the designer’s work. In a post from the museum’s account, the institution presented Philippe Thomé’s 2024 monograph ‘SOTTSASS’ as a recommended source for readers interested in the exhibition, describing it as a comprehensive volume that traces Sottsass’s creative production chronologically.
The museum’s notice underscores the breadth of Sottsass’s practice, noting his work across architecture, furniture, glass and photography. The post also emphasizes that the book includes rare portrait photographs, framing it as a definitive monograph for viewers seeking context around the exhibition’s subject. The recommendation suggests the museum is pairing the show with scholarly material that can help audiences navigate Sottsass’s wide-ranging output.
Sottsass is one of the most recognizable names in postwar design, associated with an expansive practice that moved between applied and fine art disciplines. Artizon Museum’s reference to architecture, furniture, glass and photography reflects that span, and positions the exhibition as a survey of the designer’s multidisciplinary career rather than a narrow focus on a single medium. The museum’s choice of a recent English-language publication also indicates an effort to connect the show with accessible, up-to-date research.
The post itself is presented as the first installment in a series of bibliographic recommendations, marked “vol.1,” suggesting the museum plans to share additional literature connected to the Sottsass exhibition. The message directs readers to click the image for more details, but the verified post does not provide further exhibition information such as curatorial framing, venue specifics beyond Artizon Museum, or dates. Those details are not stated in the source material and are therefore omitted here.
Artizon Museum, based in Tokyo, has used its social channels to draw attention to the exhibition through reading guidance rather than a full event announcement. The emphasis on a monograph by Philippe Thomé points to the museum’s interest in supporting the exhibition with documented research and visual material, especially for an artist whose career crossed multiple forms and spans several decades.
The museum’s post identifies the publication as ‘SOTTSASS’, published by Phaidon in 2024, and notes that it is in English. It describes the book as a chronological monograph on Sottsass’s work, accompanied by valuable portrait photographs. The source does not specify whether the exhibition is already open or still upcoming, and provides no date range to report.