MODERN DREAMERS: ICONIC ART, ARCHITECTURE AND DESIGN

Art Intelligence Global, GALERIE PATRICK SEGUIN and NOT A HOTEL are pleased to jointly present “Modern Dreamers: Iconic Art, Architecture and Design”, an exhibition opening on March 25th at Art Intelligence Global’s exhibition space in Hong Kong.

Coinciding with Art Basel Hong Kong, the exhibition is a collaborative showcase celebrating the intersections and synergies found at the highest level of art, architecture and design.

At the heart of the exhibition is a JEAN PROUVÉ-1944 6×6 Demountable House. The exhibition marks the unveiling of the Demountable House in Asia; after the exhibition, the Demountable House will be installed in NOT A HOTEL’s Tokyo headquarters.

The show also features rare architectural elements designed by Jean Prouvé, including a panel with portholes from the Bouqueval demountable school (Paris region) and a set of furniture by Jean Prouvé. Highlights include the aluminum table no. 804, a rare prototype shown for the first time, a set from one and the same sprovenance comprising an S.A.M. table no. 506 and its four Métropole chairs no. 305, all originally lacquered in Van Dyck brown, and a Cité armchair from 1930.

In dialogue with these pieces, Art Intelligence Global has curated a thoughtfully selected assemblage of works to be featured in the exhibition. Highlights include works by modern Japanese master Morikazu Kumagai, celebrated contemporary artist Yayoi Kusama, distinguished ceramicist Rikichi Miyanaga as well as Kazuo Yagi, one of the founding members of the post-war avant-garde movement Sōdeisha.

As one of the first of its kind in Asia, the multi-disciplinary exhibition offers a sophisticated fusion of art, design, history and culture and presents a unique opportunity to engage with 20th century innovation and modern to post-war artistic expression in an integrated, cohesive and interactive context.

MODERN DREAMERS:
ICONIC ART, ARCHITECTURE AND DESIGN
March 25 – April 7, 2025

Art Intelligence Global, Suite A,
1st Floor TS Tower, 43 Heung Yip Road
Wong Chuk Hang, Hong Kong, China

Spotlight on the Guéridon haut by Jean Prouvé

The Guéridon Haut, designed by JEAN PROUVÉ around 1941, features an oak veneer tabletop supported by three obliquely positioned triangular legs, connected by a three-branched tubular stretcher. The structure is secured with metal brackets screwed into the wood.

Created during the war, this now-iconic model follows the same leg principle as the S.A.M. dining table, developed simultaneously by Ateliers Jean Prouvé. Unlike versions with a metal base, this one stands out with a wooden structure, showcasing Jean Prouvé’s ingenuity and his ability to adapt to material shortages, particularly steel, under the extreme conditions of the war.

Pairing perfectly with the Métropole no. 305 chairs, the harmony of its proportions and the ideal diameter of its tabletop make this pedestal table easy to fit in any space.

For inquiries, please send us a private message or an email at info@patrickseguin.com

Focus on Jean Prouvé Métropole no. 305 chair

This Métropole no. 305 chair, lacquered in a metallic green, was designed by JEAN PROUVÉ around 1950.
Featuring a rare and elegant color, fully original, this chair reveals a remarkable patina that enhances this iconic and timeless model.

The Métropole chair embodies the fruits of Prouvé’s research into creating a chair that was both light and robust.Developed by the Ateliers Jean Prouvé in 1950, this new version of the “semi-metallic” chairs – metal frame, wooden seat – merged the principles of the prewar metal-framed chair no. 4 with the mounting systems of earlier wooden models. The frame featured two “uniform strength” pressed steel rear uprights, welded to curved tubes forming the front legs, with braces reinforcing the structure.

Put on the market a few months after the knockdown model (Cafétéria no. 300), the Métropole no. 305 introduced innovative methods for attaching metal components: a tubular brace connected the pressed steel rear uprights, to whose interior the tubes of the front legs were welded. The frame was notched to receive the backrest— fixed to welded plates with Parker screws and brass or aluminum studs—and the rear of the plywood seat, which slipped into a slot. The protective plugs for the legs were inserted into the metal uprights. The molded plywood components were varnished and the metal parts oven lacquered.

The Métropole no. 305 chair is one of the finest examples of Prouvé’s vision for industrialized production. Examples of this emblematic chair are notably part of the collections of major museums, such as the MoMa in New York and the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris.

Filling Station, 1969

The filling station designed in 1969 for the Total oil company typifies JEAN PROUVÉ’s concern with producing architecture that was light, modular, and adaptable.

The circular shape of this small, one or two-level structure reflected the client’s wish to stand out from the competion with filling stations whose originality of design would combine a powerful, readily identifiable signal with an attractively modern corporate image. Jean Prouvé saw this as the chance to pursue his long-standing experiments in producing innovative, functional architectural entities in harmony with the technical advances of his time.

Returning to the principle of the supporting core he had come up with in the early 1950s, Prouvé suggested a central-plan building whose radial metal structure rested on a bent steel axial shaft. This small building illustrates the designer’s interest in utilizing the resources provided by new materials, such as plastic. For Jean Prouvé the assemblage was an integral part of the project, helping to highlight the constructional process: it took only four builders and 10 days for the filling station to become operational.

Although the filling stations were not originally planned to be movable, the process devised by Prouvé and his team included this possibility, and a number of them were quickly and easily moved several kilometers in response to changing traffic needs. The filling stations were planned to last ten years or so. Some of them are still in existence — as filling stations or not — but only few remain in their original state.

Spotlight on the Sofa set by Pierre Jeanneret for Chandigarh

These iconic pieces originally furnished administrative buildings in Chandigarh, India, a city where LE CORBUSIER and PIERRE JEANNERET fully expressed their modernist vision.

In 1950, following India’s independence, Pandit Nehru appointed Le Corbusier to undertake a vast modernization program for Chandigarh. Le Corbusier then entrusted his cousin and close collaborator Pierre Jeanneret with overseeing construction and designing most of the furniture. Jeanneret opted for readily available materials, with an emphasis on the different local species of wood, rot-resistant and perfectly adapted to the region’s climate.

This sofa set, finely re-upholstered, was specifically designed to provide exceptional comfort for visitors to administrative buildings. The low profile of the pieces creates a welcoming atmosphere, perfectly suited to their role as reception furniture. These iconic creations exemplify the thoughtful integration of form and function, embodying Chandigarh’s architectural vision, where each building and its furnishings are integrated into a harmonious and cohesive whole.

Private collection, south of France