Poul Kjærholm

Reclining chair PK24

Poul Kjærholm (born January 8, 1929 in Østervrå , † April 18, 1980 in Hillerød ) was a Danish designer who is known for his furniture designs in the modern, Scandinavian style.

life and work

After Poul Kjærholm had completed his carpenter apprenticeship, which he began in 1948, he attended the Royal Danish Academy of Art from 1952 . In the following year he married his fellow student Hanne Dam, who later became successful as an architect under the married name of Hanne Kjærholm . From the mid-1950s, Poul Kjærholm designed furniture for his befriended entrepreneur Ejvind Kold Christiansen, who had it mass-produced and marketed. In working with Christiansen, Kjærholm enjoyed extensive artistic freedom, whereby the suitability of the designs for series production was always guaranteed. Kjærholm worked with Christiansen until his death in 1980. In 1982 the furniture manufacturer Fritz Hansen took over the designs and offers them to this day. From 1959 Kjærholm taught at the Royal Danish Academy of Art. In 1973 he took over the management of the newly merged departments for arts and crafts and design. In 1976 he achieved the rank of professor.

Honors and exhibitions

With the participation in the exhibition Formes Scandinaves , which took place in Paris in 1958 , Kjærholm first gained international attention. In the same year he was awarded the Lunning Prize, which was awarded annually to two Scandinavian designers from 1951 to 1970. In both 1957 and 1960 Kjærholm won the grand prize at the Milan Triennale. His designs are now in the permanent exhibitions of the Museum of Modern Art in New York and the Victoria and Albert Museum in London , as well as in the collections of numerous other museums.

literature

• Nils Fagerholt: Poul Kjærholm (English edition), Arktitektens Forlag, Copenhagen 1999, ISBN 978-87-7407-206-5

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Information on Poul Kjærholm from Fritz Hansen
2. ↑ Information on Poul Kjærholm at Markanto.de