Jean Prouvé - Design New York Tuesday, December 15, 2015 | Phillips

Design

New York Auction 15 December 2015 1pm

  • Literature

    Jean Prouvé, Volume 2, Galerie Patrick Seguin and Sonnabend Gallery, Paris and New York, 2007, pp. 410-12 for the various models

  • Artist Biography

    Jean Prouvé

    French • 1901 - 1984

    Jean 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.

    View More Works

159

Jean Prouvé

"Cité" table, model no. 500

designed 1933, produced circa 1950s
Painted tubular steel, painted bent sheet steel, aluminum, oak.
28 x 39 3/8 x 26 1/2 in. (71.1 x 100 x 67.3 cm)
Manufactured by Les Ateliers Jean Prouvé, Nancy, France.

Estimate
$9,000 - 12,000 

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Design

New York Auction 15 December 2015 1pm