Serge Mouille - Design Day Sale London Monday, April 27, 2015 | Phillips

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  • Literature

    Two Master Metalworkers: Jean Prouvé, Serge Mouille, exh. cat., Anthony DeLorenzo, New York, Alan and Christine Counord, Paris, 1985, p. 94 for a similar example
    Pierre Émile Pralus, Serge Mouille: A French Classic, Saint Cyr au Mont d’Or, 2006, pp. 32-33 for similar examples

  • Catalogue Essay

    Serge Mouille first presented his 'Monotype' sculptures in 1951, revisiting these forms in subsequent years. The process of making them consisted of first cutting sheet metal into strips radiating out from a central spine, and then twisting the entire sheet into a standing sculpture or hanging mobile. The resulting works resemble forms often found in nature. As Waldemar-George remarked “The monotypes we see here remind us either of geological cross-sections or imprints left on schists, by dried plants and reptiles. The dynamic and static objects produced by Mouille’s hands (and brain) are not abstract constructions. In them I make out anatomical shapes and diagrams of natural structures, of unknown birds, bats and flying fish”. This is an apt description for a designer whose iconic black-painted floor lamps seemed to spring from the earth. In fact Mouille did not draw a strong distinction between his functional works and his sculptures, often presenting them alongside each other at various salons and exhibitions of the late 1950s and early 1960s.

87

'Monotype' sculpture

circa 1955
Cut sheet aluminium.
28.9 cm (11 3/8 in.)

Estimate
£3,000 - 5,000 ‡♠

Contact Specialist
Meaghan Roddy
Head of Sale
New York
+44 20 7318 4027

Design Day Sale

London Day Sale 28 April 2015 2pm