PAIR OF BUTTERFLY ARMCHAIRS F675 BY PIERRE PAULIN, ARTIFORT (1963)

The Butterfly F675 armchair, designed by the iconic French designer Pierre Paulin, was produced by Artifort in 1963. A work on the fringes of the artist’s usual creations: the structure of the seat is composed of thin chrome-plated steel rods that cross on each side, bringing lightness to the entire seat formed by two strips of leather, devoid of any padding. The black ABS pads are original. This model is exhibited at the MoMA in New York.

Pierre Paulin (1927-2009) is one of the most famous French designers and the subject of numerous books and retrospectives. The particularity of its design lies in a transition from decoration to design quite characteristic of post-war design in France and in the materials used for the manufacture of the seats. Solicited by Georges Pompidou and François Mitterrand, he fitted out the private apartments of the Élysée. It was in 1958 that the collaboration between Pierre Paulin and the Dutch furniture publishing house Artifort began. Thanks to the company and its artistic director Kho Liang le, the French designer developed his research on shapes, worked on new techniques and experimented with innovative materials.