Jean Prouvé - Design New York Saturday, November 14, 2009 | Phillips

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  • Literature

    Galeries Jousse Seguin and Enrico Navarra, Jean Prouvé, Paris, 1998, pp. 73-75; Peter Sulzer, Jean Prouvé: Œuvre Complète, Volume 3: 1944-1954, Basel, 2005, p. 268, fig. 1242.3,4; Galerie Patrick Seguin and Sonnabend Gallery, Jean Prouvé, Paris, 2007, pp. 406 and 430-432

  • 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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51

“Compas” table

ca. 1953
Painted bent steel, plastic-laminate covered wood.
28 x 77 x 31 5/8 in. (71.1 x 195.6 x 80.3 cm.)
Manufactured by Les Ateliers Jean Prouvé, France and marketed by Galerie Steph Simon, France.

Estimate
$7,000 - 9,000 

Sold for $32,500

Design

14 Nov 2009
New York