Jean Prouvé - Design London Tuesday, September 20, 2016 | Phillips

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  • Provenance

    Centre d'études atomiques, Marcoule

  • Literature

    Galerie Jousse Seguin and Galerie Enrico Navarra, Jean Prouvé, Paris, 1998, p. 75
    Peter Sulzer, Jean Prouvé: Œuvre Complète/Complete Works, Volume 3: 1944-1954, Basel, 2005, pp. 268-69, figs. 1242.3,1-1242.3,4 for an image, production notes and technical drawings
    Galerie Patrick Seguin and Sonnabend Gallery, Jean Prouvé, Volume 2, Paris and New York, 2007, pp. 406, 430-35 for images and technical drawings of similar examples

  • 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

175

'Cafétéria' table, model no. 512, from the Centre d'études atomiques, Marcoule, France

1955
Oak-veneered wood, painted steel, painted bent sheet steel.
70.6 x 119.8 x 79.7 cm (27 3/4 x 47 1/8 x 31 3/8 in.)
Manufactured by Les Ateliers Jean Prouvé, France. Underside with metal label impressed with CEA / MAR / INT/CDE / 31552/81120000 1182.

Estimate
£14,000 - 18,000 

Sold for £28,750

Contact Specialist
Madalena Horta e Costa
Head of Sale
+44 20 7318 4019

Design

London Auction 21 September 2016