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Lot Essay
The son of the director of the Ecole de Nancy, the school that had so influenced Art Nouveau, Jean Prouvé worked primarily as an projects revealed a fluency for moulded and welded metal structures that swiftly translated into an idiosyncratic and distinctly personal
style, manifestly expressed through his diverse architectural projects and furniture design. Similarly, Jacques André came from a family
of architects and craftsmen in Nancy, his father working alongside Prouvé’s own at the Ecole de Nancy. In 1929 Prouvé co-founded the Union des Artistes Modernes (U.A.M), which held the objective of promoting progressive modern design and architecture. Other
members of this influential group included Pierre Chareau, René Herbst, Le Corbusier, Charlotte Perriand and Robert Mallet-Stevens,
amongst many others. The collective was fundamental in establishing a unilaterally modernist approach that was to reach its apogée at the 1937 World’s Fair in Paris. In 1934, having just received his architecture degree, André was invited by Prouvé to join the Union, the two having worked together since the 1920s. In 1936 André and Prouvé proposed to the UAM that they deliver a suite of experimental furniture for exhibition the following year at the Exposition Internationale des Arts et Techniques, the Paris World’s
fair of 1937. The progressive qualities of these furnishings was immediately manifest in the revolutionary use of acrylic, floating atop
sculptural metal structures, that revealed equivalence with modern, high-tech architecture. Prouvé had already begun to experiment with acrylic some months prior to the February 1937 initiation of the furniture’s production in his workshops. The synthetic material
was being developed by the aviation industries as an alternative to glass, and its transparent, malleable properties had already provided substance for the artistic avant-garde, to include artists Naum Gabo, and László Moholy-Nagy. The metal structures of the furnishings were equally innovative, and reveal direct correlation with the prefabricated metal structures that Prouvé was simultaneously developing for his architecture. Perforated to stimulate an illusion of weightlessness, the painted metal structures that supported the acrylic sheets reveal the extreme technical skill of Prouvé’s workshop; careful examination of the construction of the frames reveals that rather than simply being cast and soldered components, they are in fact raised from two laminated sheets of thin steel that have been expertly folded then soldered and partially riveted together. The synthesis of technical skill, experimental materials and functionalist styling together engender a sense of architectonic dematerialisation that must be considered
revolutionary for the period. André and Prouvé’s designs, including the present table, were exhibited on the garden terrace of the UAM Pavillion, Exposition Internationale des Arts et Techniques, Paris 1937. Contemporary photographs record the presence of two lounge chairs, a low rectangular table and the present low side table. The series was never produced beyond these examples. Almost immediately, the experimental early acrylic then used for the surfaces, 'rhodoid', was compromised by exposure to temperature and to sunlight, which ultimately necessitated its removal from all the structures within a matter of months. This important group of prototypic furnishings were considered lost until their rediscovery in 1987. Of these four works, one armchair and the low table have been long held in the collections of the Vitra Design Museum, Weil am Rhein, Germany; and the second armchair a similarly long time within a private collection. The sole remaining extant example of the suite, the present table, was acquired by the current owner around twenty-five years ago.
style, manifestly expressed through his diverse architectural projects and furniture design. Similarly, Jacques André came from a family
of architects and craftsmen in Nancy, his father working alongside Prouvé’s own at the Ecole de Nancy. In 1929 Prouvé co-founded the Union des Artistes Modernes (U.A.M), which held the objective of promoting progressive modern design and architecture. Other
members of this influential group included Pierre Chareau, René Herbst, Le Corbusier, Charlotte Perriand and Robert Mallet-Stevens,
amongst many others. The collective was fundamental in establishing a unilaterally modernist approach that was to reach its apogée at the 1937 World’s Fair in Paris. In 1934, having just received his architecture degree, André was invited by Prouvé to join the Union, the two having worked together since the 1920s. In 1936 André and Prouvé proposed to the UAM that they deliver a suite of experimental furniture for exhibition the following year at the Exposition Internationale des Arts et Techniques, the Paris World’s
fair of 1937. The progressive qualities of these furnishings was immediately manifest in the revolutionary use of acrylic, floating atop
sculptural metal structures, that revealed equivalence with modern, high-tech architecture. Prouvé had already begun to experiment with acrylic some months prior to the February 1937 initiation of the furniture’s production in his workshops. The synthetic material
was being developed by the aviation industries as an alternative to glass, and its transparent, malleable properties had already provided substance for the artistic avant-garde, to include artists Naum Gabo, and László Moholy-Nagy. The metal structures of the furnishings were equally innovative, and reveal direct correlation with the prefabricated metal structures that Prouvé was simultaneously developing for his architecture. Perforated to stimulate an illusion of weightlessness, the painted metal structures that supported the acrylic sheets reveal the extreme technical skill of Prouvé’s workshop; careful examination of the construction of the frames reveals that rather than simply being cast and soldered components, they are in fact raised from two laminated sheets of thin steel that have been expertly folded then soldered and partially riveted together. The synthesis of technical skill, experimental materials and functionalist styling together engender a sense of architectonic dematerialisation that must be considered
revolutionary for the period. André and Prouvé’s designs, including the present table, were exhibited on the garden terrace of the UAM Pavillion, Exposition Internationale des Arts et Techniques, Paris 1937. Contemporary photographs record the presence of two lounge chairs, a low rectangular table and the present low side table. The series was never produced beyond these examples. Almost immediately, the experimental early acrylic then used for the surfaces, 'rhodoid', was compromised by exposure to temperature and to sunlight, which ultimately necessitated its removal from all the structures within a matter of months. This important group of prototypic furnishings were considered lost until their rediscovery in 1987. Of these four works, one armchair and the low table have been long held in the collections of the Vitra Design Museum, Weil am Rhein, Germany; and the second armchair a similarly long time within a private collection. The sole remaining extant example of the suite, the present table, was acquired by the current owner around twenty-five years ago.