JEAN PROUVE PAIR OF EARLY "VISITEUR" ARMCHAIRS,

Provenance
Private Collection, NANCY, FRANCE

Galerie Patrick Seguin, PARIS

Exhibited
CHARLOTTE PERRIAND/JEAN PROUVE:20TH CENTURY ARCHITECTURE AND FURNITURE, Gagosian Gallery, BEVERLY HILLS, April 29-June 12, 2004

Literature
Dominique Clayssen, JEAN PROUVE -LIDE CONSTRUCTIVE, PARIS, 1983, p. 166
Benedikt Taschen, ed., JEAN PROUVE , COLOGNE, 1991, pp. 72-75
Galeries Jousse Seguin and Enrico Navarra, JEAN PROUV, PARIS, 1998, pp. 56, 170 and 171
Peter Sulzer, JEAN PROUV : COMPLETE WORKS, VOL. 2: 1934-1944, BASEL, 2000, p. 292, ill. 912 for drawings and photos of the Visiteur armchair

An extremely successful chair since the 1950s, the Visiteur armchair was first designed in 1942 for the Salvoy Institution. Two versions were made: a non-dismountable model with the seat and back in wooden slats, and the other with a similar structure, but with an adjustable back. Although after the war the design continued, models were slightly modified. For example, there were alterations in the original position and number of slats, the use of metal or solid wood for the back and seat, a different back leg or a change in the measurement of the chair. However, the most famous feature that remained from the original 1942 model is the wooden armrest with a horizontal front to allow objects to be balanced on them.