Modern Tables
Except otherwise stated, all results include the premium.
See also : Modern furniture Lalanne
Chronology : 1978 2001
See also : Modern furniture Lalanne
Chronology : 1978 2001
NOGUCHI
1
1939 The Goodyear Table
2014 SOLD for $ 4.45M by Phillips
Isamu Noguchi is a sculptor. Trained in Paris in 1927 by Brancusi, he does not want to make a difference between fine arts and utilitarian arts. At first he produced stage sets and theater costumes, in a style that tended towards abstraction.
In 1939 he executes two projects for sculptures to serve as monumental fountains, which remain little appreciated. The quality of his work however attracts the attention of A. Conger Goodyear, the president of MoMA, who orders him a table to match his living room.
Noguchi had never created furniture. The Goodyear table is therefore his masterpiece in the etymological sense of the wording. He interlocks two pieces in rosewood carved with somewhat biomorphic abstract curves, on which he places a glass top.
The Goodyear table, 73 x 210 x 87 cm, has retained its original glass. It was sold on December 16, 2014 by Phillips for $ 4.45M from a lower estimate of $ 2M, lot 12.
The end of the war allowed to start new projects. In 1948 the Herman Miller company edited the Noguchi table, a 40 x 127 x 91 cm coffee table directly inspired by the Goodyear table. The base is now made up of two identical elements in opposite positions. The success is considerable : the Noguchi table has been in the Herman Miller catalog for 72 years, with only two interruptions between 1973 and 1984.
In 1939 he executes two projects for sculptures to serve as monumental fountains, which remain little appreciated. The quality of his work however attracts the attention of A. Conger Goodyear, the president of MoMA, who orders him a table to match his living room.
Noguchi had never created furniture. The Goodyear table is therefore his masterpiece in the etymological sense of the wording. He interlocks two pieces in rosewood carved with somewhat biomorphic abstract curves, on which he places a glass top.
The Goodyear table, 73 x 210 x 87 cm, has retained its original glass. It was sold on December 16, 2014 by Phillips for $ 4.45M from a lower estimate of $ 2M, lot 12.
The end of the war allowed to start new projects. In 1948 the Herman Miller company edited the Noguchi table, a 40 x 127 x 91 cm coffee table directly inspired by the Goodyear table. The base is now made up of two identical elements in opposite positions. The success is considerable : the Noguchi table has been in the Herman Miller catalog for 72 years, with only two interruptions between 1973 and 1984.
2
1948-1949
2012 SOLD for $ 2.9M by Christie's
The son of a Japanese poet and his American publisher, Isamu Noguchi was a pioneer of international modernism. Deeply influenced by Brancusi, with whom he worked for several months in the late 1920s, he pushed the search for fundamental forms up to abstraction.
Noguchi was also a precursor of utilitarian sculpture. Too far ahead of his time, he first had trouble developing his projects for park decorations. Fortunately, in 1947, the agreement with the U.S. company Herman Miller, design specialist, brings him a considerable and sustainable success.
Herman Miller publishes several coffee tables of Noguchi. The most popular type, of free shape with a wooden base and a glass top, will be produced along several decades. Other materials are also available. An early copy of IN-62 model, 68 cm high, was sold for $ 630K by Wright on December 6, 2005. It is made of marble, birch wood and steel.
Apart from his association with Herman Miller, Noguchi exploits this new industry by making abstract sculptures-tables on request. He remembers that his preferred material is stone.
Made in 1948-1949, a luxurious and unique specimen made in marble was sold for $ 2.9M from a lower estimate of $ 800K by Christie's on June 14, 2012. This table measures 34 cm high with an oval top 125 cm wide.
Please watch the video shared by Christie's.
Noguchi was also a precursor of utilitarian sculpture. Too far ahead of his time, he first had trouble developing his projects for park decorations. Fortunately, in 1947, the agreement with the U.S. company Herman Miller, design specialist, brings him a considerable and sustainable success.
Herman Miller publishes several coffee tables of Noguchi. The most popular type, of free shape with a wooden base and a glass top, will be produced along several decades. Other materials are also available. An early copy of IN-62 model, 68 cm high, was sold for $ 630K by Wright on December 6, 2005. It is made of marble, birch wood and steel.
Apart from his association with Herman Miller, Noguchi exploits this new industry by making abstract sculptures-tables on request. He remembers that his preferred material is stone.
Made in 1948-1949, a luxurious and unique specimen made in marble was sold for $ 2.9M from a lower estimate of $ 800K by Christie's on June 14, 2012. This table measures 34 cm high with an oval top 125 cm wide.
Please watch the video shared by Christie's.
MOLLINO
1
1949 Dining Table
2005 SOLD for $ 3.8M by Christie's
Architect and interior designer, Carlo Mollino has led his career as a synthesis of his exuberant passions : high-flying, skiing, photography, women. After the war, independently of each other, Mollino and Noguchi design the furniture of the future.
The architect observes the solidity of the construction of the human skeleton. The structure of his tables and chairs takes the forms of rib cage and spine. Mollino thus brings sensuality to his furniture, which does not need an additional ornament. Above this openwork, the table top is in transparent glass.
On June 9, 2005, Christie's sold for $ 3.8M from a lower estimate of $ 150K a 73 x 157 x 86 cm oak dining table designed by Mollino in 1948 and manufactured in 1949 by Apelli e Varesio in Turin.
The architect observes the solidity of the construction of the human skeleton. The structure of his tables and chairs takes the forms of rib cage and spine. Mollino thus brings sensuality to his furniture, which does not need an additional ornament. Above this openwork, the table top is in transparent glass.
On June 9, 2005, Christie's sold for $ 3.8M from a lower estimate of $ 150K a 73 x 157 x 86 cm oak dining table designed by Mollino in 1948 and manufactured in 1949 by Apelli e Varesio in Turin.
2
1950 Italy at Work
2020 SOLD for $ 6.2M by Sotheby's
After the war, Italy looked for new solutions for its reconstruction. An exhibition entitled Italy at Work is dedicated by a consortium of US museums to the renaissance of Italian design. Carlo Mollino is invited to prepare the furnishings for an all purpose room.
The main piece of furniture for Mollino's participation in Italy at Work is a dining table, 77 x 250 x 80 cm, designed in 1949 and made in 1950 in plywood, maple and brass by Apelli e Varesio. The technical feat adds to the artistic novelty : his use of large-scale molded plywood is unprecedented in the history of furniture.
The table returns in 1954 to the Brooklyn Museum after the traveling exhibition by a gift from the Italian government. It was sold for $ 6.2M from a lower estimate of $ 2M by Sotheby's on October 28, 2020, lot 16, for the support of the museum's collections. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
The main piece of furniture for Mollino's participation in Italy at Work is a dining table, 77 x 250 x 80 cm, designed in 1949 and made in 1950 in plywood, maple and brass by Apelli e Varesio. The technical feat adds to the artistic novelty : his use of large-scale molded plywood is unprecedented in the history of furniture.
The table returns in 1954 to the Brooklyn Museum after the traveling exhibition by a gift from the Italian government. It was sold for $ 6.2M from a lower estimate of $ 2M by Sotheby's on October 28, 2020, lot 16, for the support of the museum's collections. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
1969 Anthropomorphic Furniture by Allen Jones
2013 SOLD for £ 2.17M by Christie's
The sexual revolution is on, in 1969, for better and for worse. Contraception changes the lives of women. Playboys are tempted by deviations such as sadomasochism.
The British artist Allen Jones, aged 32, realizes a set of three anthropomorphic elements which is the masterpiece of pop furniture. Attractive and undressed young women sculpted in resin and painted fiberglass form the structure of these three pieces.
Jones's work has inspired Stanley Kubrick in A Clockwork Orange in 1971, the famous nightmare movie demonstrating that it is now impossible to curb the instincts of youth.
The archetypal playboy Gunter Sachs, who was the husband of Bardot, had one of the six copies of this set. In the sale of his collection at Sotheby's on May 22, 2012, it was divided into three lots, each one estimated £ 30K, which generated the great surprise of the sale.
The table, whose top is placed on the back of the woman, was sold for £ 970K. The chair whose back consists of two upward legs terminated by stiletto heels, was sold for £ 840K, and the welcoming hatstand with thigh-high boots for £ 780K.
On February 13, 2013, Christie's sold at lot 33 a complete set for £ 2.17M from a lower estimate of £ 1.5M, fortunately as a single lot to preserve to this example its feature as an art installation. Interestingly this result is lower than the cumulated price of the three lots separated by Sotheby's, referred above.
The British artist Allen Jones, aged 32, realizes a set of three anthropomorphic elements which is the masterpiece of pop furniture. Attractive and undressed young women sculpted in resin and painted fiberglass form the structure of these three pieces.
Jones's work has inspired Stanley Kubrick in A Clockwork Orange in 1971, the famous nightmare movie demonstrating that it is now impossible to curb the instincts of youth.
The archetypal playboy Gunter Sachs, who was the husband of Bardot, had one of the six copies of this set. In the sale of his collection at Sotheby's on May 22, 2012, it was divided into three lots, each one estimated £ 30K, which generated the great surprise of the sale.
The table, whose top is placed on the back of the woman, was sold for £ 970K. The chair whose back consists of two upward legs terminated by stiletto heels, was sold for £ 840K, and the welcoming hatstand with thigh-high boots for £ 780K.
On February 13, 2013, Christie's sold at lot 33 a complete set for £ 2.17M from a lower estimate of £ 1.5M, fortunately as a single lot to preserve to this example its feature as an art installation. Interestingly this result is lower than the cumulated price of the three lots separated by Sotheby's, referred above.
Diego GIACOMETTI
1
1978 Bronze Table
2016 SOLD for $ 3.8M by Sotheby's
Diego Giacometti was thirteen months younger than Alberto. Decorators and sculptors, they establish their studio together in Montparnasse. The pieces of furnishing that they realize in the 1930s in particular for Jean-Michel Frank appeal by their modernism.
The war separates them temporarily. At that moment their art takes very different directions. While Alberto expresses existentialism by relying on surrealism, Diego does not leave decoration and realism. He meets the desires of his customers with his nice and humorous themes where animal figures come to perch on the struts or to huddle in the table legs.
Circa 1978, twelve years after the death of Alberto, Diego designs and executes for a customer a bronze table in the shape of a regular octagon 170 cm wide. The top is carried by eight legs in front of which the artist dispositions in the extension of each horizontal bar a standing figure in the threadlike style of Alberto.
This late synthesis of the art of the Giacometti brothers is scarce and unexpected. The table was sold for $ 3.8M by Sotheby's on November 15, 2016 from a lower estimate of $ 300K.
The war separates them temporarily. At that moment their art takes very different directions. While Alberto expresses existentialism by relying on surrealism, Diego does not leave decoration and realism. He meets the desires of his customers with his nice and humorous themes where animal figures come to perch on the struts or to huddle in the table legs.
Circa 1978, twelve years after the death of Alberto, Diego designs and executes for a customer a bronze table in the shape of a regular octagon 170 cm wide. The top is carried by eight legs in front of which the artist dispositions in the extension of each horizontal bar a standing figure in the threadlike style of Alberto.
This late synthesis of the art of the Giacometti brothers is scarce and unexpected. The table was sold for $ 3.8M by Sotheby's on November 15, 2016 from a lower estimate of $ 300K.
2
1980 Table aux Caryatides et Atlantes
2017 SOLD for € 4.2M by Christie's
In 1970 Hubert de Givenchy is seduced by the simple and effective creations by Diego Giacometti with which he will populate his manor. The collection of the works executed by Diego for Givenchy is dispersed by Christie's on March 6, 2017.
This set includes three examples in bronze and wood of the octagonal table "aux caryatides et atlantes". A table 162 cm in diameter made circa 1980 was estimated € 600K, lot 16. Two tables 190 cm in diameter were made circa 1983. Each of them was estimated € 800K, lot 7 and lot 11. The 1980 table was sold for € 4.2M.
This set includes three examples in bronze and wood of the octagonal table "aux caryatides et atlantes". A table 162 cm in diameter made circa 1980 was estimated € 600K, lot 16. Two tables 190 cm in diameter were made circa 1983. Each of them was estimated € 800K, lot 7 and lot 11. The 1980 table was sold for € 4.2M.
3
1983 Table aux Caryatides et Atlantes
2017 SOLD for € 3.8M by Christie's
In the same sale as above on March 6, 2017, Christie's sold for € 3.8M one of the 1983 tables, lot 7.
4
1983 Table aux Caryatides et Atlantes
2017 SOLD for € 3.3M by Christie's
In the same sale as above on March 6, 2017, Christie's sold for € 3.3M one of the 1983 tables, lot 11.
2001 Troupeau d'Eléphants dans les Arbres by Lalanne
2021 SOLD for $ 6.6M by Christie's
Troupeau d'éléphants dans les arbres is a playful installation made in 2001 by François-Xavier Lalanne, mingling furniture and animal art. An example was sold for $ 6.6M from a lower estimate of $ 1M by Christie's on June 10, 2021, lot 17. It had been commissioned by Sydell Miller and was a highlight of her 'La Rêverie' Palm Beach home. Four others were made for other customers.
The octagonal table in gilt bronze and glass is 81 cm high and 160 cm in diameter. Its four legs are trees. The branches without leaves support the top. The seven elephants of various sizes in gilt bronze are standing each alone on various attitudes. They may be positioned under or on the table, like toys. The biggest is 52 cm high.
Interestingly this composition associates the signature animal models of François-Xavier with the vegetal world of Claude.
The octagonal table in gilt bronze and glass is 81 cm high and 160 cm in diameter. Its four legs are trees. The branches without leaves support the top. The seven elephants of various sizes in gilt bronze are standing each alone on various attitudes. They may be positioned under or on the table, like toys. The biggest is 52 cm high.
Interestingly this composition associates the signature animal models of François-Xavier with the vegetal world of Claude.
