Jean Prouvé - Design & Design Art New York Thursday, December 13, 2007 | Phillips

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  • Literature

    Anthony Delorenzo, ed., Jean Prouvé / Serge Mouille, New York, 1985, pp. 71-73; Galeries Jousse Seguin and Enrico Navarra, Jean Prouvé, Paris, 1998, pp. 97 and 104-105; Jean Prouvé Constructeur 1901-1984, exh. cat., Nancy, 2001, p. 56; Jean Prouvé et Paris, exh. cat., Pavillon de l’Arsenal, Paris, 2001, p. 225; Peter Sulzer, Jean Prouvé: Complete Works, Vol. 3: 1944-1954, Basel, 2005, pp. 180-183

  • 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.

    View More Works

167

“Présidence” desk

ca. 1950
Oak-veneered wood, painted bent steel, aluminum.
29 3/8 x 96 7/8 x 57 1/2 in. (74.6 x 246.1 x 146.1 cm)
Manufactured by les Ateliers Jean Prouvé, France and distributed from 1950 by Galerie Steph Simon, France.

Estimate
$100,000 - 120,000 

Sold for $217,000

Design & Design Art

13 Dec 2007, 2pm
New York