CURATED: Selected by Patrick Parrish II 
11 April 2024
CURATED: Selected by Patrick Parrish II 
119

Pierre Jeanneret

Occasional table from Chandigarh

France/India, c. 1955
teak, aluminum 26 h × 29¾ w × 17½ d in (66 × 76 × 44 cm)
estimate: $4,000–6,000
result: $4,788
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Table features two drawers.
provenance: Chandigarh, India | Private Collection, New York
literature: Le Corbusier Pierre Jeanneret: The Indian Adventure, Design-Art-Architecture, Touchaleaume and Moreau, pg. 594 illustrates related form

This work will ship from Chicago, Illinois.

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Installation of Pierre Jeanneret works at Patrick Parrish Gallery.

Curatorial Alchemy

If asked to select one word to describe Patrick, I would resist and pick two. The first would be curiosity — a fundamental essential, to stimulate inquiry and rigour in all things, both great and small, of any era or region, type or surface. Even the most fleeting survey of this selection for sale is a celebration of innovation and of inspiration — an unerring eye for the unusually exceptional, or perhaps the exceptionally unusual. The chances are, that these are indeed discoveries that you have not yet realised that you needed to make. 

Mentor, would be my second word. If artefacts and objects articulate visual, cultural and historic language, then the fluency of skillful mentorship — to guide, nurture, describe and explain — releases the eloquence of murmuring histories. In this capacity Patrick is that most earnest and sincere of excellent narrators. If ever I had friends, clients or colleagues visiting New York looking for unusual inspiration, there was always the certainty that Patrick’s venues would offer them a glimpse of the hitherto unseen or the unusually seductive, always with the reassurance of the most fascinating story waiting to be told. 

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Mentorship and curiosity, when balanced in equal measure, reveal the precious alchemy of a curator. And it is the duty of the mature curator to discern and detect, to cultivate change, and from there to pioneer, and to share. Innovation is never static, and the Present is already the Future. Fresh dialogs evolve, energies to be nurtured, opportunities to be guided. Renewed and re-orientated, Patrick’s decision to exchange his bricks-and-mortar Tribeca gallery for a new interactive Brooklyn space aligns him towards a new inquisitive future as supportive benefactor, interlocutor and mentor to a fresh yield of talented creators — those established and those rising — and the quest for discovery rejuvenates. 

— Simon Andrews
andrewsartadvisory.com

[Chandigarh] is the biggest example in India of experimental architecture...It hits you on the head and makes you think. I like the creative approach, not being tied down by what has been done by our forefathers but thinking in new terms…in the ultimate analysis, a thing which fits in with social functions is beautiful.

Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, Former Prime Minister of India

Pierre Jeanneret 1896–1967

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Arnold Andre Pierre Jeanneret-Gris was born in Geneva in 1896. As a child, Jeanneret had a natural talent for the arts. He began his formal training at the École des Beaux-Arts in Geneva, graduating in 1921. Jeanneret was close friends with his older cousin Le Corbusier (born Charles-Édouard Jeanneret), and in 1922 the two opened a design atelier in Paris where Jeanneret was an active writer for the landmark avant-garde publication L'Esprit Nouveau. Jeanneret and Le Corbusier collaborated on numerous projects including Villa Savoie, the Pavillon de L'Esprit Nouveau for the Exposition Internationale des Arts-Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes, and the Cité de Refuge. In 1940 Jeanneret and Le Corbusier parted ways over differences brought on by the war.

Jeanneret started his own firm in Grenoble, where he worked with fellow designer Jean Prouvé to create new concepts for prefabricated housing. Le Corbusier and Jeanneret reconciled following the end of World War II and in 1947, they received a commission to design the entire city of Chandigarh, India. Jeanneret moved to Chandigarh, and provided on-the-ground supervision with the set-up and construction of the buildings for more than fifteen years. Jeanneret designed the Governor’s Palace, the State Library, and the City Hall, in addition to fabricating much of the furniture and interiors after Le Corbusier decided to abandon the project mid-way through its construction. Following the completion, Jeanneret stayed on in India as the head of the architectural department at the University of the Punjab. In his later years, Jeanneret was particularly interested in urban planning and the mechanical means of controlling the environment.

Auction Results Pierre Jeanneret

Pierre Jeanneret

pair of lounge chairs from Punjab University, Chandigarh

estimate: $30,000–50,000

result: $179,000

Pierre Jeanneret

pair of lounge chairs from Punjab University, Chandigarh

estimate: $30,000–50,000

result: $179,000

Pierre Jeanneret

Committee armchairs from the High Court, Chandigarh, set of ten

estimate: $70,000–90,000

result: $137,000

Pierre Jeanneret

Rare Periodical bibliotheque from Punjab University, Chandigarh

estimate: $70,000–90,000

result: $106,250

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