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 post-war 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 these pages, 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 Jean Prouvé is an appreciation of human decency. Vitra Standard Chair Red Frame Natural Oak by Jean Prouve Vitra Standard Chair by Jean Prouve Red Frame with Natural Oak Seat & Back Jean Prouve Standard Chair with red frame and natural oak seat and backrest. The Standard Chair is one of the undisputed icons of early mid century modern furniture design. Jean Prouve's Standard Chair is perfect as a dining room chair, living room chair or accent chair. A classic modern chair that enhances any environment, Jean Prouve's side chair remains one of the most successful fixtures of mid-century design.
Browse our site for other dining room furniture from the Vitra Jean Prouve collection which includes dining room tables, coffee tables, side chairs and chaise lounges. Jean Prouve (1901-1984), a French iron smith turned industrial architect and designer, created several modern buildings and furniture pieces during his life time. One of his most recognized icons of modern design is the Standard Chair. Jean Prouve understood the relationships between material, structure and form. His Standard Chair chair uses the frame as its main structure. The forces of resistance are concentrated in the centers of two fin-shaped spines that serve as the rear legs and supports for the back of the chair. Jean Prouve found that these spines were able to disperse stress uniformly through the legs and the back. To them he attached a frame for the seat and the front legs. Robust and functionally versatile, the Standard Chair works equally well in domestic settings or as public seating in cafes and restaurants.
Le Corbusier once said that Jean Prouve was "indissolubly an architect and an engineer, since everything he touches and designs immediately takes on an elegant, beautiful form while he finds brilliant solutions to resistance and manufacturing." Prominently displayed in the permanent collection of modern design at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Part of the Jean Prouve furniture collection by Vitra. Each piece is fully authorized and made according to the exact specifications of the original by Vitra in Europe. Dimensions: 32"H x 16.5"W x 19.25"D In stock and ready to ship.Chairs take the most stress on their back legs, where they bear the weight of the user's upper body. The engineer, architect and designer Jean Prouvé incorporated this simple insight in his design for the Standard Chair: while steel tubing suffices for the front legs, since they are subject to less stress, the back legs are made of voluminous hollow sections that transfer the primary weight to the floor.
Standard is available in the classic version with seat and backrest in wood or as the Standard SP model with seat and backrest in robust plastic. Vitra Fauteuil de Salon Vitra EM Table (HPL) Vitra EM Table (new) Prouvé RAW Lampe de Bureau Prouvé RAW Petite Potence Prouvé RAW Fauteuil de Salon Haut All prices on Designcollectors are including 21% VAT. The costs of administration, packaging and insurance are included. Over € 250, transport to some 30 countries is free of charge. For orders below € 250, there are additional shipping charges, according to the destination. Companies abroad can purchase all products from Designcollectors excluding VAT.Designed for a competition to furnish the student residence halls at the Cité Universitaire in Nancy, the Cité armchair is one of Jean Prouvé's early masterpieces. Prouvé himself used this dynamic looking armchair – with distinctive runners made of powder-coated sheet steel and broad leather belts for armrests – in the living room of his own home.