Important Raoul Guys "Antony" lounge chairs, Cite university, Paris, 1954

Rare and important pair of Raoul Guys 'Antony' chairs designed in 1954 for the world famous 'Cite' university's 'Jean Zay / Antony' residence 'in Paris . This stunning design was produced concurrently by 'Airborne' in France and 'Trefac' in Belgium (on official license) ' Beautiful sculptural form design with enameled steel rod frame and thermoformed plywood seat and backrests .both chairs are finished in their original faux leather fabric. A rare opportunity to acquire a pair complete with original upholstery, We can recover the chairs should we receive a request to do so. This pair were produced by 'Trefac' in Belgium , we found a 'Trefac' manufacturer's catalog dated 1957 which illustrates this model (please see image 6). 'Trefac' produced these chairs for the Belgian market under license from 'Airborne',France. The 'Jean Zay/ Antony' university residence was designed by the French architect Eugene Beaudoin and built in 1954. The interior furniture and lighting for the “Antony” residence was designed by the most influential of the group of “new” French designers , key figures such as Jean Prouve , Charlotte Perriand and Serge Mouille . Several of the chairs chosen for the ”Antony” building in Paris were designed by Raoul Guys including this design and his famous sculptural form wicker and steel lounge chair, please refer to images 2 and 3. These chairs were commissioned by the French government ,through the guidance of master French Sculptor and archtect , Andre Bloc, who greatly admired Guys' sculptural yet practical designs. Bloc was also involved in selecting furniture for the 'Cite' university's 'Maison Bresil' and 'Maison Mexique' university buildings in 1953 again furnished with designs by Jean Prouve , Charlotte Perriand and Serge Mouille among others. Bloc also advised 'Air France' to select Guys' 'oro' series of designs finished in bent steel and wicker for use in their 48 airports across the African continent ,they were famously used in the 'Brazzaville' complex of hotels and the Hotel N'Gor in Dakar again alongside furniture designed by Jean Prouve and Charlotte Perriand again selected by Andre Bloc. Please refer to the the last two images where you can see our collection of chairs that Raoul Guys designed for the 'Anthony' building in Paris and Air France's 'Brazzaville' complex and HotelT N'Gor in Dakar . Charles Bernard founded his company 'Airborne' in order to bring modern design to the population of France. Bernard asked his close friend and famous sculptor and architect Andre Bloc to seek out talented young designers who could produce furniture with an artistic or sculptural quality. Bloc was already working in this field with the “group espace” who saw art and sculpture as a social phenomena and aimed to bring art into the everyday living experience . For example it was Bloc who commissioned Charlotte Perriand to produce the famous 'Mexico' and 'Tunisie' bookcases for the Cité Internationale Universitaire , Paris for which Bloc also produced the colour scheme and he also worked closely with the Steph Simon gallery in Paris famous for showcasing the work of Prouve,Perriand and Noguchi among others. . Bloc had at this time recently come across a young designer Raoul Guys who’s work he greatly admired and which offered a sculptural quality to furniture design and asked him if he would like to collaborate with Airborne . In the book “les decorateurs des Annees 50” by Patrick Favardin it mentions that Andre Bloc presented Raoul Guys as a very interesting creator. Guy’s chairs had a suprising and sculptural quality in the free spirit of the after war period. LITERATURE: 'Airborne i945-75' ,page 35...

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