Jean Prouvé Collection

Origin

Vitra's page for the collection says that a chair by Jean Prouvé marked the beginning of the company's relationship with his work, and that the collaboration with his heirs is still active after more than twenty years. Vitra's brochure traces it to a visit to Paris in the early 1980s, when Rolf Fehlbaum, now Chairman Emeritus, bought a vintage Antony chair of 1954. The Vitra Design Museum has since built what the brochure calls the most extensive museum collection of Prouvé furniture and objects. In October 1999, talks between the Prouvé family and Vitra led to an agreement giving Vitra the right to produce the furniture, and the work began in 2000 in close consultation with Catherine Prouvé, the designer's youngest daughter.

Image source: Vitra — Jean Prouvé Collection · © Vitra and the respective rights holders. Quoted to accompany INTEBEE's independent design commentary and research. · View official website ↗ · Image use & copyright policy

Design Language

Vitra reports that Prouvé believed in the "nature of a material": only parts at risk of corroding should be painted, so wood and aluminium stayed untreated wherever possible. Beyond protection from rust, Vitra adds, Prouvé knew that colour could give his furniture a certain aura. Vitra has widened it to include original Prouvé colours, so that deep black, Japanese red and Blanc Colombe are joined by Gris Vermeer, Bleu Dynastie, Blé Vert and Bleu Marcoule, together with a Métal Brut variant in unpainted steel under a clear protective finish. Vitra's magazine says each colour was named after a source of inspiration, such as young wheat for Blé Vert, dove feathers for Blanc Colombe and the cobalt oxide of Ming porcelain for Bleu Dynastie; Bleu Marcoule, it adds, was the colour of an important client of the Ateliers Jean Prouvé rather than part of his own palette.

Key Pieces

The page's product overview names 24 items: the Standard family with Standard SP and Chaise Tout Bois, the Fauteuil Direction in a fixed and a swivel version, the Cité and the Fauteuil de Salon, several stools, the Guéridon tables, the Table S.A.M. Bois, EM Table, Trapèze and Compas Direction, the Rayonnage Mural wall shelves, lamps and wall fittings, and two miniatures. The brochure's earliest date is 1930, for the Cité and the Lampe de Bureau; it gives 1953 for the Compas Direction and 1950/1954 for the Trapèze. Vitra says it is introducing a number of lesser-known designs; the Tabouret Métallique, which the brochure says was never produced in Prouvé's time, is manufactured by Vitra for the first time.