JEAN PROUVE FURNITURE
Jean van Geest

Jean van Geest: JEAN PROUVE FURNITURE. Koln: Taschen, 1991. First edition. Text in English, French and German. A fine softcover book in stiff, printed wrappers: former owners signature on FEP, otherwise interior unmarked and very clean. Out-of-print and uncommon.

9 x 11.75 softcover book with 160 heavily illustrated pages of Prouve's industrial furniture designs, construction and architecture. Includes exhaustive notes and commentary on each item, and bibliography.

Jean Prouve's (1901-1984) work is immediately recognizable as iconic, though lesser known due to its limited production. Seen as one of the 20th century's great constructivists, he created everything from bicycles to pre-fab houses. Combining the precision of a structural engineer and the pragmatism of a blacksmith, he produced 30 years worth of boldly unselfconscious classic designs. Until recently, only a relatively small circle of collectors and the cognoscente (outside of France) were familiar with his work. Currently, Vitra's reissues are heightening Prouve's profile.

Le Corbusier observed that Prouve combined "the soul of an engineer with that of an architect." Prouve felt that design could improve life for all people. His early commissions were for wealthy individuals and companies, but he soon branched out into mass manufacture, producing furnishings, even building parts for institutional clients. His ideas concerning prefabricated architectural elements and the construction of metal buildings brought him numerous commissions before and after World War II. Prouve was one of the few designers who successfully applied the social principles of early modernism to design throughout his career.

out of stock