Laurence and Patrick Seguin collection, Paris
'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
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
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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