Angelo Lelii

Italy, 1911 – 1989
Designer, director

Born as Paolo Angelo Lelii in Ancona, Angelo Lelii moved with his family to Milan, where he studied at ISIA (Superior Institute of Industrial Art) at the University of Decorative Arts in Monza, outside Milan. It was in Monza also where as early as 1939 he started working out of a small basement workshop, producing lamps and chandelier designs with clean lines, strong attention to detail, and utilizing the newest technologies. After having his work interrupted by the War, in 1946 three of his designs were featured in Domus Magazine.

Arredoluce was founded in 1947, in Monza, by Angelo Lelli. Over the following decades, the company’s collaborators included renowned designers such as Giò Ponti, Ettore Sottsass, Pier Giacomo, and Achille Castiglioni. The most well-known designs of Angelo Lelii are the Triennale floor lamp model 12128 (1947) and the Cobra table lamp (1964), which became famous for its unique shape and for the low voltage used by incorporating the transformer in its base. His other iconic lights are the Tris lamp (1946), the Eye floor light (1950), the Stella ceiling light (1950), and the President table lamp (1970).

Angelo Lelii’s lamps and lighting objects stand out for their extremely simple designs that strive for minimal complexity and for their strong sense of unadorned sensitivity. Thanks to Angelo Lelii’s unique approach to lighting design, Arredoluce quickly built a reputation for creating premium quality lights based on clean, simple, and functional designs. And that is also the reason why the lamps from Lelii are so wanted amongst collectors and mid century design lovers. His lights are unique, technical master pieces and a good investment.

Important Literature;
Arredoluce 1943 – 1987 catalogue raisonné, Silvana Editoriale, Italy 2018