Pavilion of Art & Design at The Park Avenue Armory

One such dealer is Galerie Downtown.  Its owner, François Laffanour created the gallery with a thoroughly avant-garde brief: the rehabilitation of 20th century architects’ furniture which had sunk into oblivion. He is championing the works of two pioneers of 20th century Decorative Arts: Jean Prouvé and Charlotte Perriand (joint founder of the Union des Artists Modernes with Le Corbusier in 1929), as well as that of Serge Mouille and Isamu Noguchi. I like the fact that these blue-chip artists were passionate about freedom, they were able to re-invent far more than a way of life or a way of dwelling, rather a life project, no less, a manifesto of the period’s technical and scientific modernity. Charlotte Perriand once said “What interests me is people. Spare lines whose functional quality goes hand-in-hand with everyday gestures, and simple materials (wood, metal, bamboo) combined with a keen sense of detail contributed to the refinement of their works”. This in fact is a huge interest of mine as well.