Jean Prouvé

'6 x 9' demountable house, 1944-1945

'6 x 9' demountable house, 1944-1945
Painted steel, corrugated aluminium, painted wood, glass.
300 x 900 x 680 cm
Manufactured by Les Ateliers Jean Prouvé, Nancy, France.

Provenance
Private collection, Pierre-la-Treiche, Meurthe-et-Moselle, France
Thence by descent
Acquired from the above by the present owner

Literature
Peter Sulzer, Jean Prouvé: Œuvre complète / Complete Works, Volume 3: 1944-1954, Basel, 2005, pp. 46-53, for other examples
Galerie Patrick Seguin, Jean Prouvé, 6 x 6 Demoutable House, Paris, 2013, passim for the 6 x 6 model
Pinacoteca Giovanni e Marella Agnelli and Galerie Patrick Seguin, A Passion for Jean Prouvé: From Furniture to Architecture: The Laurence and Patrick Seguin Collection, exh. cat., Paris, 2013, pp. 270-275 for the central structural supports
Galerie Patrick Seguin, Jean Prouvé, Volume 2, Paris, 2017, pp. 144-147

Jean Prouvé is considered one of the most prolific and esteemed designers of the 20th Century, producing innovative furniture and architecture. Spanning many decades, the legacy of Prouvé is captured in meticulous detail in the impressive four volumes of the Complete Works, from 1917 to 1984, by Peter Sulzer, the Emeritus Professor of Architecture at the University of Stuttgart. It is in the third volume where Sulzer discusses these prefabricated houses which were originally designed for war victims.

Although, very few of these demountable buildings exist, approximately 400 were ever produced, it was the intention of the then commissioner Raoul Dautry for a total of 800 to be constructed, but most of the few which still remain are in private collections or being exhibited by galleries, three examples were installed at the International Venice Biennale of Architecture in 2000.

Like most of Prouvé's designs there are variants, and the present example is 6 x 9 meters which was an increase on the original size of 6 x 6 meters set by the Ministry of Reconstruction and Town Planning. Due to Prouvé's patented and prefabricated axial portal frame design, together with further standardised metal fixtures, and wood panelling components, meant these buildings could be constructed in a day. The present lot is a superlative example which until quite recently had remained in the same family collection since it was acquired.