Engineer and metalsmith, self-taught designer and architect, manufacturer and teacher, Jean Prouvé was a key force in the evolution of 20th-century French design, introducing a style that combined economy of means and stylistic chic. Along with his frequent client and collaborator Le Corbusier and others, Prouvé, using his practical skills and his understanding of industrial materials, steered French modernism onto a path that fostered principled, democratic approaches to architecture and design.
Prouvé was born in Nancy, a city with a deep association with the decorative arts. (It is home, for example, to the famed Daum crystal manufactory.) His father, Victor Prouvé, was a ceramist and a friend and co-worker of such stars of the Art Nouveau era as glass artist Émile Gallé and furniture maker Louis Majorelle. Jean Prouvé apprenticed to a blacksmith, studied engineering, and produced ironwork for such greats of French modernism as the architect Robert Mallet-Stevens. In 1931, he opened the firm Atelier Prouvé. There, he perfected techniques in folded metal that resulted in his Standard chair (1934) and other designs aimed at institutions such as schools and hospitals.
During World War II, Prouvé was a member of the French Resistance, and his first postwar efforts were devoted to designing metal pre-fab housing for those left homeless by the conflict. In the 1950s, Prouvé would unite with Charlotte Perriand and Pierre Jeanneret (Le Corbusier’s cousin) on numerous design projects. In 1952, he and Perriand and artist Sonia Delaunay created pieces for the Cité Internationale Universitaire foundation in Paris, which included the colorful, segmented bookshelves that are likely Prouvé’s and Perriand’s best-known designs. The pair also collaborated on 1954’s Antony line of furniture, which again, like the works on 1stDibs, demonstrated a facility for combining material strength with lightness of form.
Prouvé spent his latter decades mostly as a teacher. His work has recently won new appreciation: in 2008 the hotelier Andre Balazs purchased at auction (hammer price: just under $5 million) the Maison Tropicale, a 1951 architectural prototype house that could be shipped flat-packed, and was meant for use by Air France employees in the Congo. Other current Prouvé collectors include Brad Pitt, Larry Gagosian, Martha Stewart and the fashion designer Marc Jacobs.
The rediscovery of Jean Prouvé — given not only the aesthetic and practical power of his designs but also the social conscience his work represents — marks one of the signal “good” aspects of collecting vintage 20th-century design. An appreciation of Prouvé is an appreciation of human decency.
Find antique Jean Prouvé chairs, tables, chaise longues and other furniture on 1stDibs.
Mid-Century Jean Prouvè All Wood Standard Armchair
By Jean Prouvé
Located in BROOKLYN, NY
Jean Prouve standard chair in all wood for Ateliers Jean Prouvè 1941. A rare collectors piece.
Wood
Jean Prouve 'Demountable' Wood Chair Model cb 22 c. 1950
By Jean Prouvé
Located in Brooklyn, NY
Jean Prouve 'Demountable' Wood Chair Model CB 22 c. 1950. Designed in 1947 and manufactured by Atelier Jean Prouvé until the studio’s closure in 1953. Solid wood, molded plywood, a...
Aluminum
$20,594
H 32.29 in W 16.15 in D 20.48 in
Jean Prouvé Chaise mod. Standard dite "Tout Bois", France 1941
By Jean Prouvé
Located in Hønefoss, 30
Jean PROUVÉ (1901 -1984) - Chaise standard dite "Tout Bois" SOLID WOOD AND PLYWOOD "TOUT BOIS" CHAIR BY JEAN PROUVE - 1941 H : 82 cm W: 41 cm D: 52 ...
Oak, Plywood
Jean Prouvé Standard Chair / Authentic Mid-Century Modern
By Jean Prouvé
Located in Zürich, CH
These items express a specific rawness. There is no need for precise execution or the desire to appear sophisticated. They are simple, self-evident, and direct. They are made out of ...
Steel
Danish Designer, Side Chair, Beech, Teak, Denmark, 1950s
Located in High Point, NC
A beech and teak side chair designed and produced in Denmark, c. 1950s. Wear consistent with age and use. Overall Dimensions (inches): 32.0"H x 18.8"W x 20.0"D Seat Height (inches...
Wood, Beech, Teak
$17,840Sale Price / set|20% Off
H 31.89 in W 20.87 in D 16.93 in
Attributed to Jean Prouvé - Tout Bois - Wooden Armchair - France circa 1950s
By Jean Prouvé
Located in Hasselt, VLI
"Tout Bois” armchair - 1940/50s - Armchair in stained Beech, recognizable base profile, curved armrests, oval backrest and seat in thermoformed Beech plywood, visible screws. Attributed to the Ateliers Jean Prouvé - Based on previous sales, their provenance, and verification by the particular gallery. Provenance: Medical university near Paris. Normal wear and tear due to age - very good condition. Overall dimensions: Depth: +/- 43 cm Width: +/- 53 cm Height: +/- 81 cm Jean Prouvé's "Tout Bois" chair was an all-wood version of his famous steel "Standard Chair." Because the exigencies of world war made supplies of steel unobtainable in 1942, Prouvé redesigned the chair to use as little metal as possible (the eight screws which fasten the seat and back are the only parts not made of wood). The switch from steel to wood gave Prouvé an opportunity to experiment with traditional furniture-making methods that were paradoxically new to him, the Machine Age Pioneer. Lovely through-tenons conspicuously join the horizontal members (that support the seat) to the rear legs, and also the front cross-bar to the front legs. Though consistent with the modernist ethic of structural honesty, such labor-intensive joinery links Prouvé to the craftsmen of an older era...
Wood, Bentwood, Plywood
$26,478
H 31.89 in W 16.54 in D 18.12 in
Authentic Jean Prouvé Metropole "305 / Standard Chair" in Metal & Plywood 1950s
By Jean Prouvé
Located in Stockholm, SE
Rare "Standard Chair / Metropole 305" in black painted metal and plywood by Jean Prouvé produced by Ateliers Jean Prouvé, 1950s. In good condition with beautiful patina. Dimensions...
Metal
Arne Hovmand-Olsen Mid-Century Danish Wooden Dining Chair, 1955
By Arne Hovmand-Olsen
Located in Queens, NY
Mid-Century Danish wooden dining chair in a curved organic style and functional form with a potato chip seat, standing on domed feet. (ARNE ...
Wood
$2,942
H 33.47 in W 15.75 in D 18.51 in
Swedish Modern Torsten Claeson Pinewood Chair by Steneby Hemslöjd, 1930s
By Svensk Hemslöjd, Torsten Claeson
Located in Odense, DK
A rare and sculptural Swedish Modern chair designed by Torsten Claeson and produced by Steneby Hemslöjd in the 1930s. Executed in solid pine, the chair exemplifies the warm materiali...
Pine
$4,236
H 36.23 in W 13.78 in D 14.57 in
An Architectural MODERNIST ATELIER CHAIR, in Jean Prouvé Style, France 1950
By Jean Prouvé
Located in PARIS, FR
An astonishing very singular, telescopic workshop chair, Modernist, Bauhaus, Constructivist, Reconstruction, geometric structures in thick pieces of metal with telescopic system, on ...
Metal
“Méribel” Chair by Charlotte Perriand, Ed. Steph Simon, France, 1950s
By Charlotte Perriand
Located in Tokyo, Tokyo
Originally designed by Charlotte Perriand for the chalets of the Méribel ski resort, the “Méribel” chair reflects her dedication to honest materials, pure lines, and functional simpl...
Wood
N°19 “Bauche” Chair by Charlotte Perriand, Sentou, 1960s
By Charlotte Perriand
Located in Tokyo, Tokyo
The N°19 Bauche chair, designed by Charlotte Perriand, is a quintessential expression of her design ethos: simplicity, honesty of materials, and a seamless dialogue between tradition...
Rush, Wood
Armchair by Jean Prouvé & Jules Leleu, France, circa 1936
By Jean Prouvé, Jules Leleu
Located in Tokyo, Tokyo
A rare collaboration between Jean Prouvé and Jules Leleu, this armchair embodies the meeting of two worlds: Prouvé’s rational, structural approach and Leleu’s refined Art Deco sensib...
Metal
Wooden dinning chair, France. 1960s
Located in Tokyo, Tokyo
A vintage wooden chair with a simple, well-balanced design. Solid wood construction, gently tapered legs, and compact proportions create a functional yet warm aesthetic typical of mi...
Wood
Side Chair, Alvar Aalto for Artek, Finland, 1950s
By Alvar Aalto
Located in Tokyo, Tokyo
This side chair, designed by Alvar Aalto and produced in Finland, reflects the designer’s distinctive approach to combining organic forms with practical function. Its softly curved s...
Wood
Side Chair model No.18 by Charlotte Perriand rush chair French dining chair
By Charlotte Perriand
Located in Tokyo, Tokyo
Side chair, model no. 19, by Charlotte Perriand, from ‘L’Équipement de la Maison’ series, designed 1939, produced circa 1940s.
Rush, Hardwood, Oak
