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

    Les Ateliers Jean Prouvé, Nancy
    Acquired from the above by an employee of Jean Prouvé, circa 1958
    Thence by descent

  • Literature

    Peter Sulzer, Jean Prouvé: Œuvre Complète/Complete Works, Volume 3: 1944-1954, Basel, 2005, p. 171, fig. 1145.3,1 for a drawing, fig. 1145.3,2 for a similar example, p. 173, fig. 1145.5 for a 1956 Steph Simon prospectus
    Galerie Patrick Seguin, Jean Prouvé, Volume 2, Paris, 2007, p. 460 for similar examples

  • 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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313

Cabinet

1950s
Painted aluminum, aluminum, painted steel, oak.
37 x 63 x 22 1/4 in. (94 x 160 x 56.5 cm)
Manufactured by Les Ateliers Jean Prouvé, Nancy, France.

Estimate
$100,000 - 150,000 

Sold for $191,000

Contact Specialist
Meaghan Roddy
Head of Sale
New York
+1 212 940 1266

Design Masters

New York Auction 15 December 2015 5pm