Jean Prouvé - Important Design London Wednesday, April 25, 2018 | Phillips
  • Provenance

    Philippe Jousse, Paris, circa 1985
    Acquired from the above by the present owner

  • Literature

    Laurence Allégret and Valérie Vaudou, eds., Jean Prouvé et Paris, Paris, 2001, p. 237, fig. 64
    Peter Sulzer, Jean Prouvé: Œuvre complète / Complete Works, Volume 3: 1944-1954, Basel, 2005, p. 245 for a technical drawing
    Galerie Patrick Seguin, Jean Prouvé, Volume 1, Paris, 2017, p. 206

  • 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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Property from a Private Collection

71

'Professor' desk, designed for the Faculté des Lettres, Lille University, Lille

circa 1952
Oak-laminated wood, painted metal, aluminium.
75 x 170.5 x 87 cm (29 1/2 x 67 1/8 x 34 1/4 in.)
Manufactured by Les Ateliers Jean Prouvé, France.

Estimate
£60,000 - 80,000 

Sold for £75,000

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

Important Design

London Auction 26 April 2018