Jean Prouvé - The Architect London Monday, April 28, 2014 | Phillips
  • Provenance

    Bouqueval school, Bouqueval, France

  • Literature

    Peter Sulzer, Jean Prouvé: Œuvre complète / Complete Works, Volume 3: 1944-1954, Basel, 2005, pp. 104–05 for images of the school
    Galerie Patrick Seguin, Jean Prouvé, Volume 2, Paris, 2007, pp. 544–53
    Pinacoteca Giovanni e Marella Agnelli and Galerie Patrick Seguin, A Passion for Jean Prouvé: From Furniture to Architecture: The Laurence and Patrick Seguin Collection, exh. cat., Paris, 2013, passim
    Gagosian Gallery and Galerie Patrick Seguin, Calder │ Prouvé, exh. cat., New York, 2013, pp. 74-77

  • Catalogue Essay

    The present model Façade porthole panel will be exhibited at the forthcoming 'Architecture Biennale', Venice, 7 June-23 November 2014, and is included in the forthcoming book Bouqueval book by Patrick Seguin, Paris, 2015.

  • 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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366

Façade porthole panel, from the Bouqueval school

circa 1949
Aluminium, painted aluminium, glass, oak.
294.7 x 90.5 x 7.2 cm (116 x 35 5/8 x 2 7/8 in.)
Manufactured by Les Ateliers Jean Prouvé, France.

Estimate
£80,000 - 120,000 

Sold for £98,500

Contact Specialist
Alexander Payne
Senior Director & Worldwide Head, Design
apayne@phillips.com
+44 207 318 4052

The Architect

Created by Lee F. Mindel, London Auction 29 April 2014 6pm