Fred Brouard

FRED BROUARD (Normandy, 1944-1999).
Coffee table. France, 1970s.
Polished bronze and glass.
Limited edition. Exemplary 8/8.
Signed and justified.
In good condition, with signs of use and slight rubbing consistent with its age.
Measurements: 73 x 104 x 190 cm.

Sumptuous coffee table made by Fred Brouard, conceived as a piece of furniture-sculpture in which the bronze acquires full plastic protagonism. The rectangular glass top allows us to contemplate the base as a free-standing composition, organic and biomorphic in nature, where the domestic function becomes the support for an autonomous artistic expression.

The structure, executed in gilded bronze, is articulated by means of open forms, bold curves and very marked narrowings, features that define Brouard's immediately recognizable formal vocabulary. The cut-out voids and polished surfaces generate an intense play of light, reflections and perspectives, placing the piece within the sculptural design of the 1970s, a period in which the material became a field of experimentation. Signed and justified 8/8, it reinforces its limited edition character and its special interest in the international collectible design market.

Fred Brouard was a French sculptor, furniture designer and jeweler. Trained at the School of Fine Arts in Rouen and at the École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris, he worked with sculptor Henri-Georges Adam and was an assistant to Alicia Penalba. He exhibited in France, Switzerland and Canada during the seventies, participated in the International Exhibition of Jewelry and Contemporary Art in Montreal in 1970 and, in 1986, presented his work at the Museum of Modern Art in Paris. His creations are part of the French National Fund of Contemporary Art, which underlines the relevance of a production located at the intersection between sculpture, design and decorative arts.