For the first edition of FIAC Online Viewing Rooms, GALERIE PATRICK SEGUIN will present a fine selection of works by JEAN PROUVÉ, PIERRE JEANNERET, CHARLOTTE PERRIAND, LE CORBUSIER and JEAN ROYÈRE, prominent figures in the history of 20th century design.
Jean Prouvé, with a pioneering approach to production based on a “constructional philosophy” that applied the same principles to furniture and architecture alike, created timeless works that stood out through their unashamed esthetic. His on going concern with standardization and the modernity of his approach are reflected in the refined Direction Office chair (1951) and Guéridon Haut (1948) on display.
Selected pieces by Jeanneret and Le Corbusier from the landmark project of Chandigarh in India will also be on view. Commissioned by Nehru to construct Chandigarh — the new capital of the Punjab region — when India gained independence in 1947, Le Corbusier designed a project that would illustrate the country’s bright future. Pierre Jeanneret, Le Corbusier’s cousin and lifelong collaborator, was entrusted the designing of most of the furniture of the city. Each piece was intended for a specific place and use, with close attention to the symbolic context and were made in local materials. The Advocate chairs (ca. 1955–56) in teak and hide upholstery for instance were intended for the High Court. Thus the furnishings provide a clear, immediate image of authority and hierarchy.
Freeing herself from conventional aesthetics, Perriand soon turned to working with wood. Her four-year stay in Japan was instrumental in the development of her practice, but it was rather after the War that she developed her own conception of housing to the full, achieving a synthesis of the traditional and the industrial. Two of her most impressive creations, namely the Desk (1952) in pitch pine and the iconic Tokyo bench (1954) that was inspired by traditional Japanese design, will illustrate the refinement of her functional yet elegant pieces in wood.
In Jean Royère’s design vocabulary, simple wavy lines of metal tubing can turn into a light evocative of a luxuriant bouquet such as with the impressive 10-branched wall light (1939) on view. Royère facetiously plays with the floral motif, that quickly becomes the source of an entire array of organic shapes. A great liberty and playfulness exude from this exquisite piece that illustrate themes dear to the decorator: the vegetal and the imaginative realms.
