Antoine Philippon and Jacqueline Lecoq - by Stephane Danant - Publications

Image: Front Cover. Antoine Philippon and Jacqueline Lecoq.

This catalogue was published on the occasion of the exhibition Antoine Philippon and Jacqueline Lecoq, May 4 - July 2, 2011 at Demisch Danant

Looking back, I think that in the early years we thought of our work not as a business, but as a mission to be fulfilled. During this post-war period, it seemed to us that we were being useful, that we were offering what was best for the comfort and harmony of interiors. The notion of profitability and business success were the farthest thoughts from our minds. That didn’t mean that we didn’t want to earn a living, and God knows it was hard, but any profit was a byproduct – and not the goal – of our endeavors. This explains our occasional stubbornness, and in any case our refusal to make any concessions. We thought we were in the right! I think there was a lot of optimism in the idea that we were going to improve the lives of our fellow citizens. It was a very utopian notion, that enthusiasm would spring rom technical developments and the new materials available to us. So over the decade or so, we moved from traditional furniture using wood veneers to laminates, particularly Formica. Then post-formed laminates with thinner and thinner layers. Steel, flexible steel sheets, aluminum. Molded or stamped plywood. Multiple types of “plastics” ranging from hand-crafted to industrially produced; glass and enamel products, etc. Traditional or modern techniques, but always searching for forms based on respect for the material, working in close collaboration with the producers. That’s the triad – material, designer, producer – that was our guiding principle. But it generally operated best outside of France. Maybe it’s just the influence of the philosophy of our recent predecessors, the UAM, the “Formes utiles” association, that left its mark on us and that we still embrace. The “furniture-object,” the form as abstract design, left for the producer to “muddle through” – that was never our goal. We never though of ourselves as artists.
-Foreward by Jacqueline Philippon Lecoq

Philippon and Lecoq's furniture combines minimalism with a pervasive sense of architectural refinement and elegance. The couple approached interiors as well with an almost puritanical sense of functionalism, but succeeded in creating an extremely efficient environment which was still comfortable and humanly accessible. They received numerous prestigious awards during their career including the 'Rene Gabriel' prize in 1961.

Sold out

Antoine Philippon and Jacqueline Lecoq
9 H x 11.7 x .6 inches
22.9 H x 29.7 x 1.5 cm