FR  |
Follow      | Newsletter  | 

 

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 - 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

NEWS - Focus on Jean Prouvé’s bench no. 356, ca. 1956

JEAN PROUVÉ
Bench no. 356, ca. 1956
Cité universitaire Jean-Zay,
Antony, France

The bench no. 356, designed by JEAN PROUVÉ around 1956, was intended for the communal areas of the Cité universitaire Jean-Zay in Antony (Paris area).

Built in 1954 by architect Eugène Beaudouin, the university student residence in Antony was seen as a model: just as a city, the university accommodation complex included, besides lodgings, three swimming pools, two restaurants, three lecture halls, a theatre, a library, a nursery school, two day nurseries, an infirmary, a social care center, and shops.

This cushioned bench, fully original, features a metal frame based on the leg’s principle of the fauteuil léger no. 356. Made of a large-diameter tubular brace to which are welded tubular legs and sheet-metal support brackets, it ensures both stability and lightness.

Similar to the fauteuil léger no. 356, designed as part of the furniture program for student rooms, the bench no. 356 was specifically developed to furnish the communal areas of the Cité universitaire in Antony. Particularly noted for its comfort, it was produced in versions that seat between 3 and 9 people.

In addition to furnishing the communal areas, Jean Prouvé was also commissioned to design the furniture for the restaurants and 148 individual rooms in the university student residence, which was inaugurated on December 1, 1955.

l’architecture d’aujourd’hui, juillet 1956

NEWS - Focus on Jean Prouvé’s Tropique no. 351 armchair

JEAN PROUVÉ
Tropique no. 351 armchair, 1951
Air France building, Brazzaville,
Republic of Congo

Designed by JEAN PROUVÉ in 1951, the Tropique no. 351 armchair was made for Air France in Brazzaville.

In a post-war context of change and reconstruction, Air France began its conquest of air transport and in 1951 the Paris–Brazzaville route was inaugurated. With modernity as its keyword, the company called upon Jean Prouvé and Charlotte Perriand to design the interiors of its residence in Brazzaville – famously known as the “red building” – intended to accommodate the airline’s staff.

From this particular order emerged a series of iconic pieces, among them the Tropique no. 351 armchair.

Extremely modern, this armchair features a structure made of steel and aluminum tubing, covered with cotton canvas. Its seat, reinforced by a bent tube frame, is supported by crutches attached to the rear brace. This armchair, characterized by its curved and clean lines, also features wooden armrests. Produced from 1951 the Tropique no. 351 armchair appeared in the Steph Simon gallery catalog until 1956.

NEWS - Jean Prouvé’s Maxéville Design Office – New Exclusive Animatic

GALERIE PATRICK SEGUIN announces the release of a new video on its YouTube channel!

Using photos and original plans, this animatic showcases the JEAN PROUVÉ’s Maxéville Design Office, offering a detailed insight into this remarkable example of demountable architecture.

In 1947 Jean Prouvé moved his workshop to Maxéville, a suburb outside of Nancy in eastern France, and his company became a hotbed of innovative constructional thinking in France. Technicians, draftsmen and laborers worked together in an ambience of mutual respect.

Strategically placed opposite Prouvé’s office at the entrance to the Maxéville plant, the design office was where the Ateliers Jean Prouvé prototypes were honed with series in mind. It symbolized the new thrust Prouvé wanted to give the company by entering the mass production market generated by France’s enormous need for infrastructure and housing after the War. This version of the 10 × 12 meter demountable house with a 2 × 12 meter canopy was originally produced in 1948 as a prototype for the reconstruction after the War.

Intended as a demonstration model that would convince the public of the virtues of prefabricated housing, this was a copybook model: the use of structural axial portal provides an open, fluid plan rendered highly adaptable by interchangeable partitions and one-piece glazed or solid facing panels. Since the house failed to find the success that had been hoped for, its prototype was ultimately set up in 1952 at the Maxéville plant.

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

Watch the video and subscribe to our channel to not miss anything! 🎥