Jean Prouvé

Do you own a work by Jean Prouvé and would you like to know more about its value? Our Experts will carry out a free appraisal of your furniture, to provide you with an estimate of the market price, then assist you to sell at the best price.

Status, estimation and price of the artist Jean Prouvé

Selling price of a piece of furniture (table, chair, armchair, coat rack, etc): 280 – 1,200,000 €.

Jean Prouvé’s status for the sale of lighting: 3 200 – 162,000 €.

Ironwork and design

Jean Prouvé is a French designer and architect born on April 8, 1901 in Paris and died on March 23, 1984 in Nancy.

In 1916, the young man stopped his classical studies to take up an apprenticeship in Enghien with a blacksmith. In 1924, he set up a workshop in Nancy and created the Chaise inclinable in his first year. He made ironwork for hotels, Parisian shops and private mansions.

Leaving traditional ironwork behind him, Jean Prouvé turned to architecture and design. He began to design and draw furniture and houses.

In 1935, in collaboration with Eugene Beaudouin, he designed the Maison du Peuple in Clichy, which is considered a forerunner of modern architecture.

Jean Prouvé was appointed mayor of Nancy at the time of Liberation and between 1946 and 1947, he made workshops bigger. He built lighter dwellings, for which he received a large order for the town of Meudon, but which, in the end, was not pursued. But in 1954, he obtained the order to make the furniture as well as the common rooms and several rooms in different university residences, such as in Nancy and Antony.

Post-war and architecture

Jean Prouvé created, in collaboration, two major construction processes: the Stool (a post and a beam) and the variable surface reticular roof.

He also held the Chair of Applied Arts at the Conservatoire national des arts et métiers in Paris from 1957 to 1970.

From 1967 to 1970, he worked in collaboration with various architects on prestigious projects such as the CNIT and the Nobel Tower at La Défense in Paris.

He is also the one who will be at the origin of the use of aluminium in the design of the MuMa, André Malraux Museum of Modern Art in Le Havre.

The time of recognition has come for Jean Prouvé, who has the right to be congratulated, notably for the structure of the Palais omnisports de Paris-Bercy, or the Ushant radar tower. He was also appointed president of the jury for the National Centre for Art and Culture competition, as well as president of the Cercle d’études architecturales from 1971 to 1977.

An Original Edition of the Antony chair is worth around €40,000 and a Kangaroo armchair sold in 2001 for €152,449. However, the record is set by the sale of a refectory table from the University of Antony, which was bought by Artcurial for €1.29 million in October 2015.

Appraising and selling a furniture by Jean Prouvé

If you own a furniture or any other lighting by Jean Prouvé, ask for a free estimate via our online form.

You will then be contacted by a member of our team of experts and auctioneers to give you an independent view of the market price of your furniture. In the event of a sale, our specialists will also advise you on the various options available to sell your work at the best price.