Design  
26 October 2017
Design  
128

Jean Prouvé

armoire

Ateliers Jean Prouvé
France, 1945
enameled steel, oak, beech 70½ h × 67½ w × 21 d in (179 × 171 × 53 cm)
estimate: $15,000–20,000
result: $27,500
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Armoire features two sliding doors concealing two adjustable shelves.
provenance: Galerie Patrick Seguin, Paris | Acquired from the previous in 2006 by Joe Pytka, Los Angeles
literature: Jean Prouvé, Complete Works Volume 3: 1944-1954, Sulzer, ppg. 56-57 Jean Prouvé, Galerie Patrick Seguin and Sonnabend Gallery, ppg. 460-461, 474-475

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Works from the Collection
of Joe Pytka, Los Angeles

The following nine lots come from the collection of Joe Pytka and were used in the historic Lloyd Wright studio and residence in West Hollywood. Wright designed the historic home in 1927 to serve as his personal studio and residence while overseeing his father’s west coast projects. The home fell into disrepair in the 90s, before it was purchased by Mr. Pytka and painstakingly restored by Wright’s son, Eric Lloyd Wright.

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Sideshow photo credit: Eleonora Barna

620 George Nelson & Associates

Sling sofa, model 6832

result: $2,080

348 Philip Johnson and Richard Kelly

floor lamps, pair

result: $9,375

287

Richard Serra monographs, thirty-eight

result: $2,210

273

Shiro Kuramata monographs, three

result: $520

217

Russian Art survey, thirty-two

result: $625

239

Experimental Photography survey, thirty-one

result: $325

323

Graphic Design survey, twenty-nine

result: $625

283 Chinese

Han Dynasty head of a soldier

result: $1,170

126 Pierre Jeanneret

pair of lounge chairs from Punjab University, Chandigarh

result: $179,000

127 Pierre Jeanneret

sofa from Punjab University, Chandigarh

result: $65,000

128 Jean Prouvé

armoire

result: $27,500

129 Charlotte Perriand

daybed from the Fondation Franco-Bresilienne, Cité Internationale Universitaire de Paris

result: $20,000

130 Pierre Jeanneret

Scissor lounge chairs, pair

result: $27,500

131 Jean Prouvé

Antony daybed from Résidence Universitaire Jean-Zay, Antony

result: $27,500

132 After Jean Prouvé

chair

result: $1,750

133 Jean Prouvé

Standard chair, no. 305

result: $10,625

134 Charlotte Perriand

double daybed from the Fondation Franco-Bresilienne, Cité Internationale Universitaire de Paris

result: $11,875

126 Pierre Jeanneret

pair of lounge chairs from Punjab University, Chandigarh

result: $179,000

127 Pierre Jeanneret

sofa from Punjab University, Chandigarh

result: $65,000

128 Jean Prouvé

armoire

result: $27,500

129 Charlotte Perriand

daybed from the Fondation Franco-Bresilienne, Cité Internationale Universitaire de Paris

result: $20,000

130 Pierre Jeanneret

Scissor lounge chairs, pair

result: $27,500

131 Jean Prouvé

Antony daybed from Résidence Universitaire Jean-Zay, Antony

result: $27,500

132 After Jean Prouvé

chair

result: $1,750

133 Jean Prouvé

Standard chair, no. 305

result: $10,625

134 Charlotte Perriand

double daybed from the Fondation Franco-Bresilienne, Cité Internationale Universitaire de Paris

result: $11,875

Jean Prouvé 1901–1984

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Jean Prouvé was born in Nancy, France, in 1901. Prouvé‘s father Victor founded the École de Nancy, an Art Nouveau school that focused on hand-made objects. Apprenticing with an ironsmith as a teenager, he learned the value of simple forms and metalworking techniques. Prouvé founded his studio, Ateliers Jean Prouvé in 1923 and created restrained metal objects that rejected excess decoration. Within his workshop, he favored industrial materials like sheet steel, stainless steel, and aluminum. Engineers employed these materials in the emerging aircraft industry, and these materials inspired Prouvé to design a pre-fabricated houses with Le Corbusier in 1923 that was reminiscent of aircraft design. Working with Pierre Jeanneret and Charlotte Perriand, Prouvé created breathtaking furniture that forged the process of prefabrication. Prouvé tirelessly focused on finding creative and useful solutions to design problems throughout his career, crafting everything from aluminum vacation homes to university bookcases, living by his words that one should “never design anything that cannot be made.”

Auction Results Jean Prouvé

Jean Prouvé

rare and important Professor desk for the Université de Lille

estimate: $250,000–350,000

result: $293,000

Jean Prouvé

refectory table from the Holiday Camp at Saint-Brevin

estimate: $150,000–200,000

result: $252,000

Jean Prouvé

No. 4 chairs, set of eight

estimate: $50,000–70,000

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Jean Prouvé

Flavigny table

estimate: $20,000–30,000

result: $131,000

128