‘Le siège français, 1951-1961’ - major exhibition on chair design in 1950s France

www.galeriepascalcuisinier.com

The galerie Pascal Cuisinier will hold its exhibition ‘Le siège français, 1951-1961’ (The French chair from 1951 to 1961) from September 6th to October 12th 2014 in the Jean-Michel Wilmotte exhibition space in the heart of the Marais area and in galerie Pascal Cuisinier itself on rue de Seine in Paris’ Saint-Germain-des-prés district. This major exhibition aims to instruct and inform, and will shed new light on the changes in aesthetics, materials and construction techniques that revolutionized chair design in 1950s France. Tubular metal legs, flat springs, the use of latex foam and elastic strapping – all these innovations first appeared in the 1950s. Taken together, they represent one of the most radical departures from tradition ever seen in the history of furniture design, both in France and the world over. !Over the past ten years, galerie Pascal Cuisinier has been collecting chairs, armchairs, sofas, low chairs and benches produced between 1951 and 1961 by the most cutting-edge designers of the time, including René-Jean Caillette, Genevieve Dangles and Christian Defrance, Pierre Guariche, Joseph-André Motte, Pierre Paulin as well as designs from the Atelier de Recherches Plastiques (ARP). !Around one hundred designs will be on public display, spread over the two exhibition venues. The finest pieces will be on show between October 15th to October 19th 2014 at PAD London, the international modern art, design and decorative arts fair par excellence. !A sneak-preview of all of the designs being exhibited will be available from an extremely detailed digital catalogue. This document shares the characteristics of both an auction catalogue and an exhibition catalogue. The product of research carried out by galerie Pascal Cuisinier, this catalogue will provide a window onto the debate and the thinking behind the origins of the contemporary French chair, from a technical and aesthetic point of view, a ‘user comfort-centred’ perspective and from the standpoint of the chair as a mass-produced item.