Jean Prouvé - Design London Wednesday, April 23, 2008 | Phillips

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  • Provenance

    Air France Building, Brazzaville, Congo

  • Literature

    Galeries Jousse Seguin and Enrico Navarra, Jean Prouvé, Paris, 1998, pp. 134-135, 137 and 141; Peter Sulzer, Jean Prouvé: Œuvre Complète, Volume 3: 1944-1954, Basel, 2005, p. 34, fig. 20, p. 205 and pp. 202, 204 and 206 for technical drawings; Galerie Patrick Seguin and Sonnabend Gallery, Jean Prouvé, Paris, 2007, pp. 260-263

  • 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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203

Demountable ‘Afrique’ chair, from the Air France Building, Brazzaville, Congo

1951
Painted bent steel, moulded plywood, painted tubular steel.
80 cm (31 1/2 in.) high
Manufactured by Les Ateliers Jean Prouvé, France.

Estimate
£3,000 - 4,000 

Sold for £5,250

Design

24 Apr 2008, 2pm
London