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Desk Armchair by Marcel Gascoin

About the Item

A single pair of armchairs is available (a variation on Marcel Gascoin's famous C chair). This pair was shown in the Marcel Gascoin exhibition in the "appartement témoin" in Le Havre, and in the Confort Moderne exhibition at Galerie Valentin. We're only selling one, as the other remains in the Athome collection. Marcel Gascoin, born August 24, 1907 in Le Havre and died October 27, 1986 in Paris 13e1, was a decorator specializing in "serial furniture", who played a major role in the emergence of French design after the Second World War. Although Marcel Gascoin's first professional experience was fitting out shop windows in the faubourg Saint-Antoine, he remained a man of accessible, pragmatic modernism. His first creations followed the evolution of the Salon des arts ménagers, which focused on modern, economical, high-quality mass-produced furniture. At the 1938 show, he proposed a range of storage units, already showing the beginnings of organic design, but this story was interrupted in France and only continued in Northern Europe. In the aftermath of the war, Marcel Gascoin found a second chance thanks to his friendly ties with Raoul Dautry and Eugène Claudius-Petit - ministers in charge of reconstruction - which enabled him to establish himself at the forefront. In 1947, he coordinated the Exposition Internationale de l'Urbanisme et de l'Habitation: in charge of numerous stands (kitchen, lighting, AFNOR, etc.), he designed a model apartment for the reconstruction of Sotteville-lès-Rouen (Marcel Lods architecte). This idea of simple, modular furniture first appeared with Francis Jourdain at the beginning of the 20th century (les meubles interchangeables, 1912-1913); subsequently, decorators such as René Gabriel, Louis Sognot and Étienne-Henri Martin turned their attention to this question of a style combining quality and lower costs through prefabrication of modular elements. After René Gabriel's untimely death (1950), Marcel Gascoin became the leader of this research at the Salon des arts ménagers, overseeing the "Foyer d'aujourd'hui" section and the René-Gabriel prize - awarded for innovative mass-produced furniture. When the Reconstruction projects were completed, model apartments (Appartement témoin Perret in Le Havre) spread the ideas and objects promulgated at the Salon des arts ménagers throughout France. By presenting model layouts, Marcel Gascoin and his close associates imposed furniture that seemed as well adapted to the needs of the average household as the rest of the household equipment.
  • Creator:
    Marcel Gascoin (Designer)
  • Dimensions:
    Height: 32.68 in (83 cm)Width: 21.66 in (55 cm)Depth: 20.48 in (52 cm)
  • Materials and Techniques:
  • Place of Origin:
  • Period:
  • Date of Manufacture:
    1950
  • Condition:
  • Seller Location:
    PARIS, FR
  • Reference Number:
    1stDibs: LU7846236694162

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