Pair of French Lounge Chairs by Olivier Mourgue

Name: Pair of French Lounge Chairs by Olivier Mourgue
Brand: Olivier Mourgue
Rating: 4.9 (50 reviews)

About the Item

Casual and chic compared to the more formal Barcelona chairs by Mies Van Der Rohe, this pair of lounge chairs by French designer Olivier Mourgue was dubbed as "joker" chair for its slightly whimsical appearance. Designed for Airborne International, the steel frame creates a Silhouette that seems perched on its toe and ready to jump and jolt, a touch of humor Mourgue's work is known for. The chairs are very comfortable, with new density foams and were reupholstered in a luxury Maharam cobalt blue vinyl with a subtle metallic finish. The cushions were slipped on by design and removable instead of being permanently fixed to the frame.

Creator:
Olivier Mourgue (Designer)
Dimensions:
Height: 31 in (78.74 cm)Width: 24 in (60.96 cm)Depth: 27 in (68.58 cm)Seat Height: 17 in (43.18 cm)
Sold As:
Set of 2
Style:
Mid-Century Modern (Of the Period)
Materials and Techniques:
Fabric,Foam,Stainless Steel
Place of Origin:
France
Period:
1960-1969
Date of Manufacture:
1960s
Condition:
Wear consistent with age and use. Re-foamed, recovered, chrome is shining with minor age wear and patina.
Seller Location:
Atlanta, GA
Reference Number:
1stDibs: LU945030821662

Shop All Olivier Mourgue

Olivier Mourgue

With its undulating, futuristic and playful form, it’s easy to see why filmmaker Stanley Kubrick chose to use Olivier Mourgue’s iconic Djinn chair in his 1968 masterpiece 2001: A Space Odyssey. But the French artist and industrial designer is known for much more than the Space Age Djinn. From his whimsical Flower floor lamps to his anthropomorphic Bouloum chair, Mourgue is renowned as an important contributor to the 1960s Pop art era of modern furniture design.

Born in Paris in 1939, Mourgue grew up in an apartment filled with Empire-style antique furniture, which he derided as having “nothing to do with life.” He later studied art at Paris’s École Boulle, graduating in 1958. He then attended the École Nationale Supérieure des Arts Décoratifs.

In 1959, his former teacher at École Boulle, Marcel Merpillat, encouraged him to present a chair he designed at a competition hosted by furniture manufacturer Airborne. Airborne founder Charles Bernard was impressed by Mourgue’s design, which featured a leather-upholstered seat attached to a chrome steel frame; it was produced by the company under the name the Joker. Mourgue designed several other mid-century modern pieces for Airborne throughout the 1960s, including the Whist chaise longue, the rotund Montreal chair, the unique Cubique chair and the Djinn series, which first appeared in 1964.

In addition to Airborne, Mourgue has designed for furniture manufacturers such as Disderot and Prisunic, and collaborated with British architect and designer Sir Norman Foster and Finnish architect Juhani Pallasmaa.

Mourgue worked for Le Mobilier National to design the French Pavilion for Montreal’s Expo ‘67. In 1968, he received the International Design Award from the Institute of Interior Designers in New York for the Djinn lounge chair. He also exhibited several of his works at Expo ‘70 in Osaka, Japan.

Today, Mourgue’s pieces are part of the permanent collections at the Museum of Modern Art in New York and the Centre Pompidou in Paris.

On 1stDibs, discover a range of vintage Olivier Mourgue seating, lighting and more.