Jean Prouve

Not for sale in Estonia!


This exquisitely produced and comprehensive slipcased publication, edited by Paris' Galerie Patrick Seguin, is a new and enlarged edition of the original two-volume Jean Prouve monograph that was published in 2007 to fill a hole in the previously existing scholarship, most of which had focused on Prouve's architecture. Featuring a redesigned cover and graphics, it adds presentations of each house exhibited by Galerie Patrick Seguin (with archival images, plans and contemporary photos); an expanded selection of private international collections with photography of Prouve furniture; and a catalog of Prouve exhibitions organized by Galerie Patrick Seguin from 1990 to 2016.

Also included (from the original edition) are a collection of interviews with collectors and design professionals; a detailed biography of Prouve by his daughter, Catherine Prouve; and essays by design historian Raymond Guidot and architecture historian Catherine Coley.

Today the oeuvre of Prouve is considered essential to the history of 20th-century design. Prouve's furniture designs were determined by the interior spaces the pieces would inhabit, and they were developed in tandem with the modernist principles of the "art of living" and "harmonious habitat" that were so characteristic of the time. This volume celebrates the unity of his brilliant vision.

Though lacking any formal education in architecture, Jean Prouve (1901-1984) became one of the most influential architects of the 20th century, boldly experimenting with new building designs, materials and methods. "His postwar work has left its mark everywhere", wrote Le Corbusier, "decisively".