Pierre Paulin "ABCD" Sofa for Artifort
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Pierre Paulin "ABCD" Sofa for Artifort
About the Item
- Creator:Pierre Paulin (Designer)
- Dimensions:Height: 25.25 in (64.14 cm)Width: 65 in (165.1 cm)Depth: 31.5 in (80.01 cm)Seat Height: 15 in (38.1 cm)
- Style:Mid-Century Modern (Of the Period)
- Materials and Techniques:
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:1960s
- Condition:Reupholstered. Wear consistent with age and use.
- Seller Location:Long Island City, NY
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU5695225536182
Pierre Paulin
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 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.
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. You will see on 1stDibs that Pierre Paulin’s creations have a unique personality: bright and playful yet sophisticated and suave.
- Pierre Paulin, Rare Sofa Model 442 for Artifort, 1962By Artifort, Pierre PaulinLocated in Paris, FRHere is the two-seat model sofa from the 442 series designed by Pierre Paulin and manufactured by Artifort, Netherlands, 1962. Original Piece from the 1960s Newly re-upholstered in the traditional way by the best French craftsmen, we used a high quality wool Bouclé fabric from the French House Nobilis. Excellent condition. Biography - Pierre Paulin (1927-2009) Born in 1927 in Paris, Pierre Paulin is a French designer and interior designer. After studying at the Camondo School in Paris, with Maxime Old as a teacher, Pierre Paulin incorporated Marcel Gascoin’s studio in 1953. That same year, he exhibited his first designs which met a great success, at the “Salon des Arts Ménagers”. In 1954, Thonet France started to manufacture his creations. In 1959, Pierre Paulin began to work for the Dutch manufacturer Artifort, for whom he designed a range of bright colours, supple and curved shapes seats, upholstered with jersey. It was the beginning of a long and profitable collaboration that gave birth to many design icons. In 1967, he laid out Christian Dior’s office. In 1970, he started a collaboration with “Mobilier National” for whom he designed “Amphis” sofa, made out of three draught excluders built in and waving. Consecration came in 1971, when he took on the realisation of President Georges Pompidou’s private apartments at the Élysée Palace, assuring long-term recognition. François Mitterrand also drew on him in 1984, to conceive the interior design of his presidential office. Later, he renovated the dining room for the President Jacques Chirac. In 1975, he founded along with his wife the AD/SA agency, in which Roger Tallon associated in 1984. This company allowed them to work with great French firms such as Calor, Villeroy & Bosch, Citroën and SNCF and to arrange Paris-Gare de Lyon...Category
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