Design Art London: Perriand Everywhere

Walking through the galleries showing mid-century French furniture was like déjà vu. There was a lot of the same thing by the same designer — namely, pieces by Charlotte Perriand, who got her start in Le Corbusier's studio. Perriand's "Tokyo" sofa showed up at both Patrick Seguin and Jousse Enterprise; similar chairs at Seguin and Galerie Downtown; and the same stools and similar wall-mounted bookshelves at Jousse and Downtown. I love Perriand's work, and without question, she deserves all of the success she's enjoyed as historians have started paying more attention to her work and the market for modern French design has taken off. But can we have some originality, please? Apart from the fact that it's boring to see the same things at different booths, you'd think the dealers wouldn't want to show up with identical (or similar) pieces. Who's going to spend the kind of cash Perriand's work commands — a pair of those stools got more than $8,000 at Wright in Chicago earlier this month — when he knows there's more of it so easily available?

Charlotte Perriand, Bookshelves, Photo Credit: Marie Clérin/galerieDOWNTOWNfrançoislaffanour

Charlotte Perriand, Desk and Chair, Photo Credit: Galerie Patrick Seguin