Pierre Paulin Seating
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.
1960s Dutch Mid-Century Modern Vintage Pierre Paulin Seating
Fabric
1960s Dutch Mid-Century Modern Vintage Pierre Paulin Seating
Chrome
1980s French Bauhaus Vintage Pierre Paulin Seating
Beech
2010s Danish Pierre Paulin Seating
Textile
1960s Dutch Mid-Century Modern Vintage Pierre Paulin Seating
Steel
1960s Dutch Mid-Century Modern Vintage Pierre Paulin Seating
Metal
Late 20th Century Dutch Mid-Century Modern Pierre Paulin Seating
Metal
1960s Dutch Mid-Century Modern Vintage Pierre Paulin Seating
Velvet
21st Century and Contemporary Danish Mid-Century Modern Pierre Paulin Seating
Cotton, Wood
1950s Dutch Mid-Century Modern Vintage Pierre Paulin Seating
Metal
2010s Danish Pierre Paulin Seating
Textile
2010s Dutch Mid-Century Modern Pierre Paulin Seating
Fabric
1960s Dutch Mid-Century Modern Vintage Pierre Paulin Seating
Metal
1960s Dutch Mid-Century Modern Vintage Pierre Paulin Seating
Fabric, Wood
1960s Dutch Mid-Century Modern Vintage Pierre Paulin Seating
Velvet
1960s Dutch Mid-Century Modern Vintage Pierre Paulin Seating
Bouclé, Wood
20th Century French Mid-Century Modern Pierre Paulin Seating
Metal
1960s European Modern Vintage Pierre Paulin Seating
Metal
1960s Dutch Mid-Century Modern Vintage Pierre Paulin Seating
Nickel
1970s Dutch Mid-Century Modern Vintage Pierre Paulin Seating
Fabric, Wool
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Pierre Paulin Seating
Wool, Nylon, Polyester
2010s Danish Pierre Paulin Seating
Textile
Mid-20th Century Dutch Mid-Century Modern Pierre Paulin Seating
Metal
21st Century and Contemporary Dutch Modern Pierre Paulin Seating
Textile
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Pierre Paulin Seating
Wool, Nylon, Polyester
1960s Dutch Mid-Century Modern Vintage Pierre Paulin Seating
Fabric, Wood
2010s Danish Pierre Paulin Seating
Textile
Mid-20th Century Dutch Mid-Century Modern Pierre Paulin Seating
Wool, Upholstery, Nylon, Rope, Foam, Wood, Plywood, Lacquer, Paint, Fabric
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Pierre Paulin Seating
Wool, Nylon, Polyester
1980s Dutch Mid-Century Modern Vintage Pierre Paulin Seating
Metal
1960s Dutch Space Age Vintage Pierre Paulin Seating
Aluminum
1960s French Vintage Pierre Paulin Seating
Upholstery, Foam, Wood
2010s Danish Pierre Paulin Seating
Textile
2010s Danish Pierre Paulin Seating
Textile
1960s French Vintage Pierre Paulin Seating
Wool, Foam, Wood
1980s Dutch Mid-Century Modern Vintage Pierre Paulin Seating
Aluminum
Mid-20th Century Dutch Mid-Century Modern Pierre Paulin Seating
Steel
1970s Dutch Space Age Vintage Pierre Paulin Seating
Steel
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Pierre Paulin Seating
Wool, Nylon, Polyester
1960s Dutch Mid-Century Modern Vintage Pierre Paulin Seating
Fabric, Upholstery
21st Century and Contemporary Dutch Modern Pierre Paulin Seating
Textile
1960s Dutch Mid-Century Modern Vintage Pierre Paulin Seating
Alpaca, Bouclé
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Pierre Paulin Seating
Wool, Nylon, Polyester
1980s Dutch Mid-Century Modern Vintage Pierre Paulin Seating
Wool, Foam, Plywood
1980s Dutch Mid-Century Modern Vintage Pierre Paulin Seating
Bouclé
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Pierre Paulin Seating
Wool, Nylon, Polyester
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Pierre Paulin Seating
Wool, Nylon, Polyester
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Pierre Paulin Seating
Wool, Nylon, Polyester
1970s Dutch Mid-Century Modern Vintage Pierre Paulin Seating
Aluminum
1960s Dutch Mid-Century Modern Vintage Pierre Paulin Seating
Metal
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Pierre Paulin Seating
Wool, Nylon, Polyester
21st Century and Contemporary Danish Mid-Century Modern Pierre Paulin Seating
Cotton, Wood
1960s Dutch Mid-Century Modern Vintage Pierre Paulin Seating
Bouclé
1960s Dutch Mid-Century Modern Vintage Pierre Paulin Seating
Stainless Steel
Mid-20th Century French Mid-Century Modern Pierre Paulin Seating
Steel
20th Century French Mid-Century Modern Pierre Paulin Seating
Wood
1980s Dutch Mid-Century Modern Vintage Pierre Paulin Seating
Aluminum
1980s Dutch Mid-Century Modern Vintage Pierre Paulin Seating
Metal