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Lot Essay
Conçue en 1941 dans l’espoir de faciliter le voyage de ses employés entre leur domicile et les ateliers, la bicyclette de Jean Prouvé est construite autour d’une « monopoutre » faisant le meilleur usage des ressources très limitées dont disposaient les ateliers Jean Prouvé en temps de guerre. Elle réemploie des techniques et solutions développées par le designer nancéen dans ses réalisations architecturales et mobilières : ainsi la poutre verticale supportant la selle ressemble aux pieds arrière de la chaise Standard sur lesquels l’essentiel de la charge repose et est probablement formée sur les mêmes machines. Son dessin la rapproche aussi du vélo en tôle d’aluminium emboutie de Peugeot de 1941 inventé indépendamment et témoigne de la validité des recherches de Prouvé : d’une rigidité exemplaire le cadre monopoutre était jusqu’à l’avènement de nouvelles techniques de productions de tubes, la solution la plus élégante afin de conférer une solidité sans pareille à un châssis de vélo. Le projet d’industrialisation n’ayant jamais vu le jour, moins de dix exemplaires sont construits, dont l’un figure dans les collections permanentes du Centre Georges Pompidou, Musée National d'Art Moderne et a été présenté dans l'exposition Jean Prouvé, Constructeur tenue en 1991.
Designed in 1941 in the hope of making it easier for his employees to travel between their homes and the workshops, Jean Prouvé's bicycle has a "single-beam" structure making the best use of the very limited resources available to the Jean Prouvé workshops in wartime. It re-uses techniques and solutions developed by the Nancy-based designer in his architectural works and furniture: thus the vertical beam supporting the saddle resembles the rear legs of the Standard chair on which most of the load rests and was probably made on the same machines. Its design also bears a close resemblance to Peugeot's independently invented 1941 bicycle made of pressed aluminium sheet metal and testifies to the validity of Prouvé's research: with its exemplary rigidity, the single-beam frame was, until the advent of new tube production techniques, the most elegant solution for giving unparalleled strength to a bicycle chassis. As the bicycle never made the industrialisation phase, fewer than ten were made, one of which can be found in the permanent collections of the Centre Georges Pompidou, Musée National d'Art Moderne and was presented in the exhibition Jean Prouvé, Constructeur held in 1991.
Designed in 1941 in the hope of making it easier for his employees to travel between their homes and the workshops, Jean Prouvé's bicycle has a "single-beam" structure making the best use of the very limited resources available to the Jean Prouvé workshops in wartime. It re-uses techniques and solutions developed by the Nancy-based designer in his architectural works and furniture: thus the vertical beam supporting the saddle resembles the rear legs of the Standard chair on which most of the load rests and was probably made on the same machines. Its design also bears a close resemblance to Peugeot's independently invented 1941 bicycle made of pressed aluminium sheet metal and testifies to the validity of Prouvé's research: with its exemplary rigidity, the single-beam frame was, until the advent of new tube production techniques, the most elegant solution for giving unparalleled strength to a bicycle chassis. As the bicycle never made the industrialisation phase, fewer than ten were made, one of which can be found in the permanent collections of the Centre Georges Pompidou, Musée National d'Art Moderne and was presented in the exhibition Jean Prouvé, Constructeur held in 1991.