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FINDERS KEEPERS | MASTERS & MUSES | CABANA MAGAZINE
For Paris-based gallerists, Patrick and Laurence Seguin, collecting is based on both instinct and intimacy - with more than a hint of Jean Prouvé reverence. In this edition of Finders Keepers, Patrick Seguin shares the stories behind two personal Prouvé treasures: his greatest find, and the piece he'll keep forever.
INTERVIEW BY CAMILLA FRANCES | MASTERS & MUSES | 17 APRIL 2025
The Paris apartment of dealers Patrick and Laurence Seguin © Galerie Patrick Seguin.
My Greatest Find: Jean Prouvé, Centrale table, 1956
"The Centrale table by Jean Prouvé, which I have kept in my personal collection, is such an incredible piece. I love its design—the base seems almost inspired by airplane wings, which gives it such a modern and dynamic feel. Prouvé came up with the idea for the trapezoidal bent steel base in the 1930s, originally for lecture hall chairs.
"He later adapted it around 1950 for a desk, then used a similar base for a large conference table—the Centrale table. This table featured bent steel legs fitted with inverted cup feet, and a central beam, holding the brackets for the tabletop. Designed in 1956, it was used in the common areas of the Cité Universitaire in Antony (Paris region). For me, it’s one of Prouvé’s most beautiful pieces.
"There’s a perfect balance in its proportions. The simplicity of its lines, combined with that structural grace and unique history really makes it a timeless piece."
Central Table, 1956. © Galerie Patrick Seguin; Jean Prouvé, From Furniture to Architecture - The Laurence and Patrick Seguin Collection.
"When we opened the gallery at the end of the 1980s, we were fortunate enough to be able to purchase a large number of Prouvé's pieces of furniture directly from the administrations for which they had been designed. These included furniture from the Cité universitaire d'Antony, where these tables were used in the cafeteria and the conference room. At that time, I did not yet have the notion of preservation that we later developed with the collection.
"When, in the 2000s, the curator Alexander Von Vegesak put part of his modern design collection up for sale, I was able to purchase his table that I had sold him 10 years earlier. I had always regretted not having been able to keep a copy, so I decided to add this one to my collection. For me it's one of Jean Prouvé's masterpieces, with its airplane wings base so characteristic of Prouvé's know-how and constructive thinking, and its perfect proportions."
The Piece I’ll Keep Forever: Richard Prince, Runaway Nurse #3, 2007-08
"This painting, Runaway Nurse #3, has been part of my personal collection for the last twenty years, and I’ll keep it forever. It’s currently hanging in our living room. Richard Prince is an avid collector of books, particularly vintage pulp novels from the 1950s and 1960s, which inspired his Nurses series.
"He appropriates old book covers, featuring dramatic, stereotypical heroines like nurses, and turns them into striking paintings. He uses these retro images, exploring the anonymity of the figures, delving into the questions of identity, authenticity, and authorship.
"I’ve had a long-standing friendship with Richard, whom I admire deeply. In 2008, in collaboration with Gagosian Gallery, we showcased a series of his works at Galerie Patrick Seguin. A standout piece was a chair shaped like a nurse’s hat, showing how Prince reinterprets his Nurses series. It was a brilliant example of how he blends art and design meaningfully.
Richard Prince, Runaway Nurse #3, 2007-08 © Galerie Patrick Seguin; Jean Prouvé, From Furniture to Architecture - The Laurence and Patrick Seguin Collection.
"This painting has been part of our collection for over 20 years. It is one of the first important works of art that we bought. Since then, we have moved several times, but we have always hung this painting in the living room, in the place of honor, above the Calder mobile that Calder gave to Jean Prouvé as a gift.
"I bought the Nurse directly from Richard, who is a great friend. A collector himself, he is a great admirer of Jean Prouvé's work and, in addition to his furniture, he has acquired two of his demountable houses, which he has installed in upstate New York, where he has his studio and carefully preserves his many varied collections.
"Every time I visit him, it is in a rather secluded and very special place."
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Jean Prouvé, From Furniture to Architecture - The Laurence and Patrick Seguin Collection is published by Galerie Patrick Seguin, 2025.
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