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Founded in 1989, GALERIE PATRICK SEGUIN is located in Paris’s Bastille district in a 300 sqm (3200 sq ft) space, architectured by JEAN NOUVEL, a 2008 Pritzker Prize winner. Since its opening, the gallery has brought the talents of French designers such as JEAN PROUVÉ, CHARLOTTE PERRIAND, PIERRE JEANNERET, LE CORBUSIER and JEAN ROYÈRE into the international spotlight.

With a particular specialization in the work of Jean Prouvé, Galerie Patrick Seguin works rigorously to promote both his furniture as well as his architecture (demountable houses). As of today, the gallery has assembled the most important collection of these demountable houses, which for the most part are either unique examples or were produced in very few numbers.

The quality of the works selected by Patrick Seguin combined with his meticulous and informative presentations has resulted in unique exhibitions at the Centre Georges Pompidou and the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris, the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Venice Biennale, and the Musée des Beaux Arts in Nancy, France. The gallery has also published a series of monographic books that accompany the exhibitions. In 2018 Patrick Seguin was named Chevalier de l’ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the Minister of Culture. The decoration was awarded to him by Mr. Jack Lang, former Minister of Culture.

In addition to featuring both Prouvé demountable houses and design exhibitions, the gallery invites an international contemporary art gallery to exhibit a “Carte Blanche” show in its Parisian space every year during the FIAC. Past exhibitions have included galleries Jablonka Galerie, Hauser & Wirth, Gagosian, Galerie Eva Presenhuber, Sadie Coles HQ, Galleria Massimo De Carlo, Paula Cooper Gallery, kurimanzutto, Luhring Augustine, Karma, Ivor Braka, Campoli Presti, David Kordansky Gallery and Gavin Brown’s enterprise.

 


NEWS - Our latest exclusive video, Jean Prouvé’s “Better Days” House, 1956

GALERIE PATRICK SEGUIN announces the release of an exclusive video on its YouTube channel, featuring the “Better Days” House, designed by JEAN PROUVÉ in 1956.

This stop-motion video, created during the set-up of the house, immerses you in the fascinating construction process of this demountable house. Each step is revealed, showcasing the ingenuity of Prouvé’s construction system.

The “Better Days” House, designed by Jean Prouvé, perfectly summed up the notion of the industrially produced detached dwelling—lasting, light, economical and comfortable—that he had been working on for almost twenty years. The project also illustrated the constructor’s reactivity. Faced with the urgency of the situation caused by the housing crisis, in just a few weeks he perfected a model combining his earlier experiments with an innovative building technique and the latest materials.

The construction approach was based on a concept devised with architect Maurice Silvy at Prouvé’s factory in Maxéville in 1952. On a dished concrete base was placed a prefabricated steel central unit housing the kitchen, bathroom and toilet; supporting a pressed steel beam, the unit constituted the substructure. The shell was made of thermoformed wood sandwich panels and the roof of aluminum slabs that also extended out to cover the porch. The public was as enthused by the idea as practicing architects, but this 57m² (613 sq ft) house that took seven hours to assemble was too revolutionary for its time: the official approval needed for industrialization was not granted, and only five were ever built.

For inquiries about this historic demountable architecture, please send us an email at info@patrickseguin.com.⁠

Watch the vidéo and subscribe to our channel to not miss anything!

NEWS - Jean Prouvé’s 6×9 demountable house at Art Basel Paris – Set-up

As part of the Art Basel Paris public program,GALERIE PATRICK SEGUIN is showing a JEAN PROUVÉ 6×9 demountable house on Avenue Winston Churchill, in front of the Grand Palais.

This stop-motion video, filmed during the two-day assembly of the house in the heart of Paris, highlights the fascinating construction process of this demountable architecture, designed in 1944 to be rapidly assembled and, if needed, demounted and moved elsewhere.

Free of charge and open to all, a visit to the 6×9 demountable house is an opportunity to observe the ingenuity of Prouvé’s construction system, deployed here using two portal frames around which the living spaces inside the pavilion are organized.

The 54m2 demountable house is furnished with a fine selection of Jean Prouvé furniture.

Watch the vidéo and subscribe to our channel to not miss anything!

NEWS - ART BASEL – PUBLIC PROGRAM

As part of the Art Basel Paris public program, GALERIE PATRICK SEGUIN is showing JEAN PROUVÉ’s 6×9 demountable house (1944) on Avenue Winston Churchill, in front of the Grand Palais.

In response to an order from the government at the end of the War, Jean Prouvé designed temporary houses for those who had been made homeless in Lorraine and Franche-Comté. Fine-tuning the axial portal frame system that he had patented in 1939, he met the emergency situation with a quick, economical and adaptable solution. The surface area, initially set at 36 m² by the Ministry of Reconstruction, was enlarged to 54 m² and made immediately habitable on the day of assembly. This solution meant that the local residents did not have to move away while their homes were being rebuilt.

Designed to be assembled rapidly and, if need be, demounted and moved elsewhere, these “architectural feats” were made up of light, prefabricated components of metal and wood. As steel was then in short supply, it was reserved for the bent sheet frame, into which standardized wood panels were inserted.

This 54m2 demountable construction will be furnished with a selection of furniture and lighting by Jean Prouvé, Charlotte Perriand and Le Corbusier.

Free of charge and open to all, a visit to the 6×9 demountable house is an opportunity to observe the ingenuity of Prouvé’s construction system, deployed here using two portal frames around which the living spaces are organized.

For this occasion, the gallery has designed posters showcasing Prouvé’s constructional philosophy.

Come and get yours!

ART BASEL – PUBLIC PROGRAM
October 16-20, 2024
Avenue Winston Churchill, 75008 Paris

NEWS - DESIGN MIAMI.PARIS

During DESIGN MIAMI. Paris, GALERIE PATRICK SEGUIN will exhibit a selection of iconic chairs and armchairs by JEAN PROUVÉ. Spanning more than twenty years of design, this thematic show will highlight the various typologies of seating designed by the constructor during his career.

From the creation of his first chairs in 1934, Jean Prouvé never stopped adjusting, improving and adapting his seating designs in line with changing requirements and technical innovations.

In 1947, based on studies conducted during the War, he presented one of the first examples of “kit” furniture. The CB 22 chair, which is made up of two solid wood side/leg pieces held together by a pair of threaded rods housed in metal tubes, was designed for the Meubles de France competition. Fully demountable, this model is a perfect illustration of Jean Prouvé’s “constructive thinking”, rooted in a logic that is rational and functional.
Designed in 1950, the iconic Métropole chair embodies the fruits of his research into the design of a chair that was both light and robust. To achieve this, he combined rear legs in bent steel “of uniform strength” to support the backrest, with narrower, tubular front legs supporting the seat.

These innovations also included the design of seating for export. In 1951, in the context of post-War change and reconstruction, Air France set out to conquer air travel and opened a flight between Paris and Brazzaville (Congo Republic). In a bid for modernity, the company commissioned Jean Prouvé and Charlotte Perriand to design the interiors of the residence housing its expatriate staff members.
With its simple curving lines, the Tropique no. 351 armchair is characterized by its steel and aluminum tube structure covered in cotton canvas.
The Cafétéria no. 300 chair, which was produced in several different variants, shows its demountable nature by leaving the assembly details deliberately visible.

Alongside his designs for the domestic market, Jean Prouvé developed other types of seating, specially designed for offices and public institutions. The Direction no. 352 chair, and its swivel version, the Direction no. 353, both provide remarkably comfortable seating. While the static model sits on a metal frame with tapered rear legs, the swivel version is characterized by a central base with cross-shaped foot in diamond-embossed aluminum sheet.

DESIGN MIAMI. PARIS
October 15 – 20, 2024
Hôtel de Maisons
51 rue de l’Université, 75007, Paris
Room 1