Jean Prouvé - Design London Wednesday, April 26, 2017 | Phillips
  • Provenance

    Laurence and Patrick Seguin collection, Paris

  • Exhibited

    'A Passion for Jean Prouvé: From Furniture to Architecture: The Laurence and Patrick Seguin Collection', Pinacoteca Giovanni and Marella Agnelli, 6 April-8 September 2013

  • Literature

    A Passion for Jean Prouvé: From Furniture to Architecture: The Laurence and Patrick Seguin Collection, exh. cat., Pinacoteca Giovanni e Marella Agnelli and Galerie Patrick Seguin, Paris, 2013, illustrated p. 67
    Galerie Patrick Seguin, Jean Prouvé, Volume 1, Paris, 2017, p. 99

  • 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.

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56

'Semi-metal' chair, model no. 306

circa 1952
Painted steel, painted tubular steel, vinyl covered oak-veneered plywood, rubber, aluminium.
79.7 x 42.5 x 49 cm (31 3/8 x 16 3/4 x 19 1/4 in.)
Manufactured by Les Ateliers Jean Prouvé, Nancy, France.

Estimate
£12,000 - 18,000 

Sold for £15,000

Contact Specialist
Madalena Horta e Costa
Head of Sale
+44 20 7318 4019

Design

London Auction 27 April 2017