Martin Szekely - Design New York Wednesday, June 11, 2014 | Phillips

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  • Provenance

    Galerie kreo, Paris

  • Literature

    Christian Schlatter and Bernard Chauveau, Martin Szekely: Des Étagères, Paris, 2005, pp. 18-19
    Patricia Urquiola , ed., The International Design Yearbook, London, 2007, p. 79
    Clément Dirié, ed., Martin Szekely, Zurich, 2010, pp. 184-85
    Françoise Guichon, Philippe-Alain Michaud, Martin Szekely, Martin Szekely: Ne plus dessiner, exh. cat., Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, 2011, p. 11

  • Catalogue Essay

    An industrial designer living and working out of Paris, Martin Szekely is widely known for his designs for Hermès, Dom Perignon, and Perrier. The diversity of his design capabilities is evident in his portfolio, with projects ranging from an electric pylon for the French utility company EDF to a leather satchel for Belgian clothier Delvaux.

    The present lot was designed in 2004 as part of the des étagères series. The concept of a borderline informs the work both physically and formally. The design was conceived as an engineering challenge that would test the limits of minimal use of material. In Ne plus dessiner, the publication related to Szekely’s 2012 exhibition at the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris of the same name, the rationale and success of the construction is explained: “Keeping a structure upright means thinking about bracing-the use of triangulation to cancel out vertical and horizontal forces. Des étagères uses a simple small triangle, its base placed along the vertical strut and its summit lying along the underside of the shelf. The combined force of all the small triangular pieces stabilizes the whole structure whatever is placed on it. ” Says Szekely, “The shelves have their own rules, dictated by the functional specificity of the way it is put together rather than by subjective aesthetic decisions.”

Property of a French Collector

109

"T5" bookshelf, from the “Des Étagères” collection, in "bleu-clair"

2004
Nextel-coated aluminum.
101 7/8 x 135 1/2 x 18 1/8 in. (258.8 x 344.2 x 46 cm)
Editioned by Galerie kreo, Paris and produced by Tolerie Fine de Précision, France. Number 3 from the edition of 8 plus two artist's proofs and two prototypes. Metal plaque incised with m Szekely, "étagè T5" 2004, N0 3/8, Édition galerie kreo.


Estimate
$50,000 - 70,000 

Sold for $60,000

Contact Specialist
Meaghan Roddy
Head of Sale, New York
mroddy@phillips.com
+ 1 212 940 1266

Design

New York Auction 11 June 2014 11am