PARIS.- On 24th October, for the fourth consecutive year, Artcurial is hosting a thematic Design auction during the FIAC. This year’s event, highly anticipated by collectors from all around the world, is dedicated to a woman: Charlotte Perriand (1903 – 1999). Named Charlotte For ever, the auction will paint a complete and faithful portrait of this great creator through the 20 carefully selected lots. The rich documentation provided in the catalogue was curated with the help of Pierrette Perriand and Jacques Barsac, authors of recently published reference books on Charlotte Perriand.

With this collection, Artcurial’s design department sheds light on the only woman amongst the « French Masters », the masters of French design of the second part of the 20th century, a time that revolutionised design: Le Corbusier, Jean Prouvé and Pierre Jeanneret. The interest showed for Charlotte Perriand’s work is carried on to her professional relationships and her friends and family circle which united these four unique personalities.

« Charlotte Perriand is without a doubt the woman who best embodies the transition of interior design onto the second half of 20th century.

The diversity of her creations from the most exclusive to the most diffused, as well as her links to Jean Prouvé, Pierre Jeanneret and Le Corbusier, make her an integral part of the history of Design.

As a nod to history, the auction will be held on Charlotte Perriand’s birthday, 24th October. » --Emmanuel Bérard, director Design Department, Artcurial

Charlotte Perriand, The female segment of the French Masters
Born in 1903 in Paris, her father was a tailor from the Savoie region of France and her mother a seamstress in haute-couture. Charlotte Perriand earns her diploma in 1925 from Union centrale des arts décoratifs. She is discovered at the age of 24 with her Bar sous le toit, presented at the 1927 Salon d’automne and is an immediate hit with the critics. Created for Place Saint-Sulpice apartment/studio it includes pedestal side-tables, low and bar stools and a chrome bench.

Two famous architects take notice: Pierre Jeanneret and his cousin Le Corbusier. The latter takes her under his wing and into his agency, giving her the “Habitation equipment” section to lead. The collaboration lasts for ten years (1927-1937). She then decides to cut lose from architectural academia and to adopt theories that take into account materials, functionality, leisure activities and well-being. During these years, Charlotte Perriand also collaborates with Robert Mallet-Stevens and Paul Nelson, maintaining close links with Jean Prouvé’s workshops in Nancy. Even if she creates pieces alone, her multi-handed collaborations will prove to be characteristics of her work throughout her career. Furthermore, she is one of the few women to successfully integrate the field of architecture at this time.

The auction will present exceptional pieces, created in her early days, such as important bureau dit « en forme » in solid sculpted pinewood, created in 1943-1944 and which was then used as Pierre Jeanneret’s personal desk (estimate: €300,000 – 400,000 /$330,000 – 440,000), or bahut suspendu dit « en forme » in solid pine wood, diamond-point aluminium, created around 1940 (estimate: €200,000 – 300,000/ $220,000 – 330,000).

An environmentally aware architect touched by her trips to Asia
From the 1940’s, Charlotte Perriand’s style is heavily influenced by a long visit to Asia, in particular Japan, from 1940 to 1942. She occupies the post of industrial arts adviser to the Commerce and Industry Ministry. She is introduced to the position by the great Japanese architect and defender of the Japanese Modern Architectural Movement Junzō Sakakura, with whom she had worked in the workshop of Le Corbusier between 1931 and 1936.

There, she holds conferences on decorative arts, creates a rocking deck chair called Tokyo and finds in this country a response to her popular, functional and efficient architectural ideas. The auction will illustrate this period with a rare catalogue, Choix, tradition, création au contact avec l’art japonais (Choice, tradition, creation to the contact with the Japanese art), edited by Charlotte Perriand and Sakakura Junzō in 1941, including a 32-page booklet and 53 printed boards (estimate: €10,000 – 15,000/ $11,000 – 16,500). In 1947, the French designer returns to France.

In the years 1950’s, her furniture is displayed alongside that of Jean Prouvé and Serge Mouille, in the Steph Simon gallery, located on the Boulevard Saint-Germain, Paris. At a time when concrete is king, Charlotte Perriand stands out from the masses with her creations that focus on the warmth of wood. The table called « Forme libre » in solid mahogany from 1958 (estimate €60,000 – 80,000/ $66,000 - 88,000) fully integrates this period.

Profoundly inspired by the mountain, Charlotte Perriand participates in many projects in the Alps. In 1946-48, she creates the interior architecture for the first buildings in the new winter sports resort, Meribel-les-Allues in Savoie. Not far from there, between 1967 and 1986, she participates in the design of Les Arcs, both in architecture and interior facilities.

From her early days, Charlotte Perriand was concerned about social housing and the Collective and popular equipment, the designer wants to create for everyone. In 1952, she designs the interior layout of la “Maison de la Tunisie” and la “Maison du Mexique” in the “Cité universitaire internationale” in Paris. She creates two libraries which contains some of her most famous furniture.

During this auction, Artcurial will present an example of the bibliothèque dite Maison du Mexique, built in 1952 with Ateliers Jean Prouvé and André Chetaille (estimate: €80,000 – 120,000 / $88,000 – 132,000), and bibliothèque suspendue dite Nuage, created in 1965 (estimate: €40,000 – 60,000/ $44,000 – 66,000).