Heavy Metal – DANIELLA ON DESIGN

As the market for collectible design has emerged and as collectors have become more and more educated, the ‘curated sale’ has become the touchstone of our time. Just like the curated interior and the curated event, the curated sale comes to present design in historical, broad context, providing the viewer and the collector with a new way to look at design. Few have done a better job in presenting curated design sales than the Parisian auction house Artcurial. It is the third year, when it presents a curated design sale, and this time, entitled ‘Heavy Metal,’ it comes to explore the various ways designers have communicated and negotiated with metals throughout the past century. Among the twenty masterpieces presented are works by such design legends as Pierre Chareau, Jean Prouve, Ron Arad, and Pierre Paulin. Marc Newson’s Pod of Drawers, his early chest of drawers covered with aluminum sheets has played a crucial role in the evolution of the market for collectible contemporary design. I wish the objects would have shown in the catalogue on a light background rather than the black. Above: Table by Jean Prouvé, 1951. All images © Artcurial.

Marc_Newson-Chiffonier_dit_Pods_of_drawers(c)Artcurial.jpg Chiffonier, Pods of drawers, Marc Newson © Artcurial

Jacques_Le_Chevallier-Lampe_sphère_n4_et_sa_table(c)Artcurial.jpg Lamp sphere n4 and its table, Jacques Le Chevallier, 1926-1927. © Artcurial