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Jean Prouvé
Rare wall panel, from the Bouqueval school
- Estimate
- £20,000 - 40,000
Lot Details
Painted aluminium, aluminium.
circa 1949
294.6 x 90.9 x 7.1 cm (115 7/8 x 35 3/4 x 2 3/4 in.)
Manufactured by Les Ateliers Jean Prouvé, France.
Specialist
Full-Cataloguing
Catalogue Essay
In 1949 the Ateliers Jean Prouvé responded to the French Ministry of Education’s request for proposals for experimental school buildings. Their submission, designed by Henri Prouvé according to the demountable portal-frame principle, was selected and produced for the towns of Vantoux and Bouqueval. Like many of the French government’s commissions of this period they were never put into expanded production and the two schools are considered prototypes. The small school contained two classrooms and a covered playground. The school in Vantoux is still standing, and a small number of components of the Bouqueval school have been preserved.
Provenance
Literature
Jean Prouvé
French | B. 1901 D. 1984Jean Prouvé believed in design as a vehicle for improvement. His manufactory Les Ateliers Jean Prouvé, located in Nancy, France, produced furniture for schools, factories and municipal projects, both within France and in locations as far flung as the Congo. Though he designed for the masses, pieces such as his "Potence" lamps and "Standard" chairs are among the most iconic fixtures in sophisticated, high-design interiors today. Collectors connect with his utilitarian, austere designs that strip materials down to the bare minimum without compromising on proportion or style.
Prouvé grew up in Nancy, France, the son of Victor Prouvé, an artist and co-founder of the École de Nancy, and Marie Duhamel, a pianist. He apprenticed to master blacksmiths in Paris and opened a small wrought iron forge in Nancy. However it was sheet steel that ultimately captured Prouvé's imagination, and he ingeniously adapted it to furniture, lighting and even pre-fabricated houses, often collaborating with other design luminaries of the period, such as Robert Mallet-Stevens, Le Corbusier and Charlotte Perriand.
Browse ArtistProuvé grew up in Nancy, France, the son of Victor Prouvé, an artist and co-founder of the École de Nancy, and Marie Duhamel, a pianist. He apprenticed to master blacksmiths in Paris and opened a small wrought iron forge in Nancy. However it was sheet steel that ultimately captured Prouvé's imagination, and he ingeniously adapted it to furniture, lighting and even pre-fabricated houses, often collaborating with other design luminaries of the period, such as Robert Mallet-Stevens, Le Corbusier and Charlotte Perriand.