Gabriele Mucchi "Genni" Chaiselongue & Ottomane for Zanotta

Gabriele Mucchi was an Italian painter, graphic artist, and architect. Considered a co-founder of "New Realism" (*Nuovo Realismo*), his works are exhibited in numerous renowned museums. Mucchi studied architecture at the University of Bologna, graduating in 1923.

He subsequently worked as an architect for various firms in Milan and Rome. In the 1930s, he successfully turned his attention to painting; his large-scale murals garnered attention well beyond Italy's borders. During this period, his studio became a meeting place for *Corrente*, an anti-fascist group that opposed Mussolini's regime.

During World War II, Mucchi joined the partisans of the Garibaldi Brigade. After the war, he lived for many years in East Berlin, where he served as a professor at the Berlin-Weißensee School of Art. It was during this time that he formed a friendship with the author Bertolt Brecht, a bond rooted in their shared pursuit of realistic forms of artistic expression. The friendship and collaboration between the two are reflected in the theatrical drawings Mucchi created based on Brecht's plays at the Berliner Ensemble. Mucchi passed away in Milan in 2002. His grave is located among a row of artists' graves at the Berlin-Friedrichsfelde Central Cemetery. Mucchi designed the "Genni" model offered here in 1938.