All I Want for Christmas / François Laffanour
Georges Jouve vase, circa 1950
By TDE Editorial Team / 17th December 2020
François Laffanour, founder and director of Parisian Galerie Downtown, is a benign and scholarly presence at art fairs around the world. He is an art dealer who specialises in the furniture of architects – with his core passions the furniture of Charlotte Perriand and Jean Prouvé. We could not leave him out of our survey of Christmas wishes.
François Laffanour
COURTESY: Galerie Downtown, Paris / PHOTOGRAPH: © DePasquale + Maffini
Which collectible design object would you like Father Christmas to bring you?
A beautiful Georges Jouve vase.
George Jouve, ‘Vase’, 1950
COURTESY: Galerie Downtown, Paris
Why this object?
I have always liked ceramics and particularly the work of Georges Jouve, who is one of the most important French Post-War ceramists. I have been exhibiting his works for 40 years. I like his compositions and particularly this one which is nearly abstract. You can’t really see all the surrealist shapes. Its unique design introduced the more abstract composition that he developed across the 1950s-1960s, until his death in 1964.
Which chair will you be sitting in on Christmas day?
The Charlotte Perriand armchair that she designed in 1946. At that time she had just returned from six years in Asia and had started work on the interior design project of the Méribel ski station chalets.
Charlotte Perriand, ‘Armchair’ (skin), 1946
COURTESY: Galerie Downtown, Paris
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