Pierre Paulin Elysee
Mid-20th Century French Mid-Century Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Aluminum
Mid-20th Century French Mid-Century Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Aluminum
21st Century and Contemporary French Armchairs
Cotton
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Shelves
Plywood
Vintage 1970s French Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Aluminum
Mid-20th Century Armchairs
Textile
Vintage 1960s French Side Tables
Formica, Upholstery
Vintage 1960s French Armchairs
Steel
Vintage 1970s French Organic Modern Canapes
Foam
Vintage 1960s French Space Age Lounge Chairs
Iron
Vintage 1970s Mid-Century Modern Table Lamps
Stainless Steel
Vintage 1970s French Organic Modern Canapes
Foam
Vintage 1960s French Canapes
Upholstery, Foam, Wood
Vintage 1980s Dutch Mid-Century Modern Lounge Chairs
Metal
Vintage 1960s Dutch Mid-Century Modern Sofas
Chrome, Steel
Vintage 1960s European Mid-Century Modern Armchairs
Steel
Vintage 1960s Dutch Mid-Century Modern Armchairs
Fabric
Vintage 1960s Dutch Mid-Century Modern Armchairs
Fabric
Vintage 1970s Dutch Mid-Century Modern Lounge Chairs
Metal
Vintage 1960s Dutch Mid-Century Modern Armchairs
Fabric
Vintage 1960s Dutch Mid-Century Modern Armchairs
Steel
Vintage 1960s Dutch Mid-Century Modern Lounge Chairs
Nickel
2010s French Armchairs
Fabric
Vintage 1960s Dutch Mid-Century Modern Armchairs
Steel
Mid-20th Century Dutch Mid-Century Modern Lounge Chairs
Steel
Vintage 1960s Dutch Mid-Century Modern Lounge Chairs
Wool
2010s French Armchairs
Fabric
Vintage 1950s Dutch Mid-Century Modern Armchairs
Metal
Vintage 1980s American Desks and Writing Tables
Birdseye Maple, Walnut
2010s French Loveseats
Fabric
2010s French Sofas
Fabric
Vintage 1980s American Desks
Birdseye Maple, Walnut
Vintage 1980s American Art Deco Desks and Writing Tables
Leather, Birdseye Maple
Vintage 1980s American Art Deco Desks
Leather, Maple, Walnut
21st Century and Contemporary French Chairs
Fabric
21st Century and Contemporary French Chairs
Fabric
21st Century and Contemporary Books
Paper
Vintage 1970s French Sofas
Leather
Vintage 1970s French Mid-Century Modern Canapes
Leather
Vintage 1960s Ottomans and Poufs
Foam, Wool
2010s Dutch Mid-Century Modern Armchairs
Metal
2010s Dutch Mid-Century Modern Armchairs
Metal
Vintage 1960s Lounge Chairs
Chrome, Steel
2010s Italian Mid-Century Modern Loveseats
Upholstery, Foam
Mid-20th Century Armchairs
Leather
Mid-20th Century Armchairs
Leather
Mid-20th Century Armchairs
Textile
20th Century French Mid-Century Modern Armchairs
Metal
20th Century French Mid-Century Modern Lounge Chairs
Alabaster, Metal
Vintage 1970s Dutch Modern Armchairs
Mohair
20th Century European Modern Armchairs
Fiberglass
Vintage 1970s French Modern Sofas
Fabric
Late 20th Century American Desks and Writing Tables
Brass
Vintage 1970s French Mid-Century Modern Lounge Chairs
Mid-20th Century French Mid-Century Modern Armchairs
Faux Leather
Vintage 1960s Armchairs
Steel
Vintage 1970s European Armchairs
Fabric, Fiberglass
Vintage 1960s French Mid-Century Modern Lounge Chairs
Steel
Vintage 1970s French Mid-Century Modern Sofas
Leather
Vintage 1960s French Mid-Century Modern Lounge Chairs
Fabric
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Pierre Paulin Elysee For Sale on 1stDibs
How Much is a Pierre Paulin Elysee?
Pierre Paulin for sale on 1stDibs
Pierre Paulin introduced a fresh breeze into French furniture design in the 1960s and ’70s, fostering a sleek new Space-Age aesthetic. Along with Olivier Mourgue, Paulin developed chairs, sofas, dining tables and other furnishings with flowing lines and almost surreal naturalistic forms. And his work became such a byword for chic, forward-looking design and emerging technologies that two French presidents commissioned him to create environments in the Élysée Palace in Paris.
Paulin was born in Paris to a family of artists and designers. He initially sought to become a ceramist and sculptor and was studying in the town of Vallauris near the Côte d'Azur — a center for pottery making, where Pablo Picasso spent his postwar summers crafting ceramics — but broke his hand in a fight. He enrolled at the École Camondo, the Paris interior design school. There, Paulin was strongly influenced by the work of Charles and Ray Eames, George Nelson and Arne Jacobsen, as was reflected in his early creations for the manufacturer Thonet-France.
It was at the Dutch firm Artifort, which he joined in 1958, where Paulin blossomed. In a few years, he produced several of his signature designs based on abstract organic shapes. These include the Butterfly chair (1963), which features a tubular steel frame and slung leather, and a group of striking seating pieces made with steel frames covered in polyurethane foam and tight jersey fabric: the Mushroom (1960), Ribbon (1966) and Tongue (1967) chairs. The revered designer not only introduced new construction techniques to Artifort furniture but contributed fresh materials, Pop art colors and dazzling shapes to the mid-century modern era as a whole.
In 1971, the Mobilier National — a department of France’s Ministry of Culture in charge of furnishing top-tier government offices and embassies — commissioned Paulin to redesign President Georges Pompidou’s private apartment in the Élysée Palace. In three years, Paulin transformed the staid rooms into futuristic environments with curved, fabric-clad walls and furnishings such as bookcases made from an arrangement of smoked-glass U shapes, flower-like pedestal chairs and pumpkin-esque loungers.
Ten years later, the Mobilier National called on Paulin again, this time to furnish the private office of President François Mitterand. Paulin responded with an angular, postmodern take on neoclassical furniture, pieces that looked surprisingly at home in the paneled, Savonnerie-carpeted Louis XVI rooms. As those two Élysée Palace projects show, Paulin furniture works well both in a total decor or when used as a counterpoint to traditional pieces. His creations have a unique personality: bright and playful yet sophisticated and suave.
Find vintage Pierre Paulin lounge chairs, armchairs, coffee tables and other furniture on 1stDibs.