Serge Mouille - Design / Design Art New York Thursday, December 14, 2006 | Phillips

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  • Provenance

    Serge Mouille
    Delorenzo Gallery
    Private Collection

  • Exhibited

    Exhibited at Delorenzo Gallery, Jean Prouve/Serge Mouille May 1985

  • Literature

    Alan and Christine Counord, Serge Mouille, Luminaires, 1953-1962, Paris, 1983, p. 45; Anthony Delorenzo, ed., Jean Prouvé/Serge Mouille, New York, 1985, front cover and pp. 90, 150, 161 and 169; Pierre-Emile Pralus, Serge Mouille a French Classic, Saint Cyr au Mont d'Or, 2006, pp. 216 and 220

  • Catalogue Essay

    One of the most important examples from Serge Mouille’s final “Colonnes” series of lamps is "Les Tres Grand Signal," produced from 1962 to 1964. Mouille began his career as a silversmith and eventually became director of the silversmith department at the School of Applied Arts in Paris from 1952. As a member of SAD, the Société des Artistes Décorateurs, Mouille was dedicated to hand-workmanship, as opposed to utilizing mass production techniques in his metalwork.

    From 1956, Serge Mouille exhibited his work at the Steph Simon Gallery in Paris alongside such prominent designers as Isamu Noguchi, Charlotte Perriand and Jean Prouvé. The exchange of ideas between designers is evident in both his earlier, more kinetic lighting designs, as well as in the more rigid ‘Colonnes’ series. Directly prior to the ‘Colonnes’ series Mouille designed a number of institutional commissions, including the University of Antony. The influence of institutional lighting is clear in the ‘Le Très Grand Signal's’ use of neon tubing and durable materials.

    Extract from Pierre-Emile Pralus, Serge Mouille a French Classic p. 220 in 1963, Serge Mouille came up with a larger, fuller version of the Grand Signal. “I find it better proportioned than the 181cm version, painted black, it became a bit spindly, it lacked a bit of substance and body.” He would use brushed aluminium, an up-and-coming material of the 1970’s…Serge Mouille saved the production of 'Le Très Grand Signal' for himself, to the exclusion of Sinma.

217

Rare and important "Le Très Grand Signal" floor lamp

ca. 1963
Aluminum, iron.
79 1/2 in. (201.9 cm) high
Includes a certificate of authenticity signed by Serge Mouille.

Estimate
$120,000 - 140,000 

Design / Design Art

14 Dec 2006, 2pm
New York