Danish modern also known as Scandinavian modern is a style of minimalist furniture and housewares from Denmark associated with the Danish design movement. In the 1920s, Kaare Klint embraced the principles of Bauhaus modernism in furniture design, creating clean, pure lines based on an understanding of classical furniture craftsmanship coupled with careful research into materials, proportions, and the requirements of the human body. Designers such as Arne Jacobsen and Hans Wegner helped bring about a thriving furniture industry from the 1940s to the 1960s. Adopting mass-production techniques and concentrating on functional form, Finn Juhl contributed to the style's success. Additionally, minimalist Danish housewares such as cutlery and trays of teak and stainless steel and dinnerware such as those produced in Denmark for Dansk International Designs in its early years, expanded the Danish modern aesthetic beyond furniture.

History

Origin

Between the two world wars, Kaare Klint exerted a strong influence on Danish furniture making. Appointed head of the Furniture Department at the Architecture School of the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, he encouraged his students to take an analytical approach, adapting design to modern-day needs. Adopting the Functionalist trend of abandoning ornamentation in favour of form, he nonetheless maintained the warmth and beauty inherent in traditional Danish cabinet making, as well as high-quality craftsmanship and materials. The development of modern Danish furniture owes much to the collaboration between architects and cabinetmakers. Cabinetmaker A. J. Iversen, who had successfully exhibited furniture from designs by architect Kay Gottlob at the International Exposition of Modern Industrial and Decorative Arts in 1925 in Paris, was instrumental in fostering further partnerships. In 1927, with a view to encouraging innovation and stimulating public interest, the Danish Cabinetmakers Guild organized a furniture exhibition in Copenhagen which was to be held every year until 1967. It fostered collaboration between cabinetmakers and designers, creating a number of lasting partnerships including those between Rudolph Rasmussen and Kaare Klint, A. J. Iversen and Ole Wanscher, and Erhard Rasmussen and Børge Mogensen. From 1933, collaboration was reinforced as a result of the annual competition for new types of furniture, arranged each year prior to the exhibition. In 1931, another key institution in the development of Danish Modern formed; The Association of Arts founded a permanent venue for arts and craft called.

Start of the Golden Age

In the post World War II years, Danish designers and architects believed that design could be used to improve people's lives. In the late 1940s, the growing middle class in Denmark began to show interest in Danish Modern and helped fuel further investment into the style. Particular attention was given to creating affordable furniture and household objects that were both functional and elegant. Fruitful cooperation ensued, combining Danish craftsmanship with innovative design. Initially, the furniture was handmade, but recognizing that their work would sell better if prices were reduced, the designers soon turned to factory production. The scarcity of materials after the war encouraged the use of plywood. In the late 1940s, the development of new techniques led to the mass production of bent plywood designs by Hans Wegner and Børge Mogensen, both of whom produced chairs with a teak plywood seat and back on a beech frame. In 1951, Arne Jacobsen went even further with his sculptural Ant Chair with a one-piece plywood seat and back, bent in both directions. Collapsible chairs dating from the 1930s include Kaare Klint's Safari Chair and propeller stools which were also developed by Poul Kjærholm and Jørgen Gammelgaard. Danish furniture exports grew from just DKK 0.8 million in 1939 to DKK 6.8 million in 1944.

The international market

Interest in Danish Modern in the United States began when Edgar Kaufmann, Jr. from the Museum of Modern Art purchased some items for the Fallingwater home designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. This ultimately led to mass-production in the United States, too. From the beginning of the 1950s, American manufacturers obtained licenses for the mass production of Danish designs while maintaining high standards of craftsmanship. Later, the designs were altered to suit American tastes and American parts were introduced to reduce costs. When Sears and Woolworth's entered the market, the Danes countered by producing new designs based on new materials. One of Wegner's works was used by Richard Nixon and John F. Kennedy in a 1960 televised debate and is now known simply as The Chair. A largely intact, and comprehensive, example are the buildings of St Catherine's College, Oxford in England. Designed by Arne Jacobsen between 1960 and 1966, the buildings were given the highest Grade I designated status by Historic England in 1993. In addition to the buildings themselves, Jacobsen designed almost all of the furniture, lighting, textiles and metalwork used on the site. Furniture exports from Denmark rose from DKK 9.8 million in 1953 to DKK 257.8 million in 1964. This was aided in part by Denmark's decision to copy the British 30% devaluation in September 1949, which brought down the price of Danish goods drastically for American consumers.

Decline in popularity

Sales peaked around 1963, but when American manufacturers introduced molded plastic and wood-grained Formica as cheaper substitutes, they started to decline in favor of Mediterranean designs which became popular in 1966. In addition to changes in style preferences, customers' shopping habits had changed to favor affordable and lower-cost furniture over a single investment that would last their lifetime. A 1980 New York Times article observed that Danish modern "went out of style" in the United States, due in part to counterculture, "which would have none of the earnest establishment image of Scandinavian design", and the "new culture, for which only the shocking is chic". Many factories closed during this time and the Cabinetmakers' Guild Exhibition held its final event in 1966 after too few cabinetmakers remained in Copenhagen to sustain it.

Resurgence of interest

In the late 1990s, Danish modern, and the broader mid-century modern movement, experienced a revival in international interest. While the mass-produced works of Wegner, Juhl and Jacobsen are still in demand, collectors are increasingly turning to limited production items from these and the other designers. In the United States, while prices have increased, they are still at reasonable levels compared to similar items of new furniture. Licensed manufacturers have started reissuing key designs, while others have used Danish Modern for inspiration.

The Danish furniture industry today

Employing some 15,000 people each year, Denmark's 400 furniture companies produce goods worth around DKK 13 billion (€1.75 billion). A highly productive sector, over 80% of the furniture produced is sold abroad making furniture Denmark's fifth most-important export industry. Most of the items produced are for the home, but many are designed for the workplace. In addition to its classic designs, Danish designer furniture benefits from a new generation of innovative players. As a result, Denmark has maintained its place as the world's leading furniture producer in relation to the country's population. A number of firms continue to be active in producing both classic Danish Modern designs and in introducing variants designed by a new generation of artists. They include Republic of Fritz Hansen, Fredericia Furniture, Carl Hansen & Søn and Normann Copenhagen, all of whom exhibited at the 2011 Salone Internazionale del Mobile in Milan. Other significant producers include PP Møbler, Kjærholm Production and One Collection, formerly known as Hansen & Sørensen. However, a large amount of Danish furniture is now produced outside of Denmark. Production has been outsourced to aboard where costs are lower, mainly Baltic countries and eastern and southern Europe. Republic of Fritz Hansen, for example, has moved their production to Poland. New types of Danish design companies have emerged with both national and international appeal in recent years. Normann Copenhagen, HAY, Muuto, Kähler are among new firms that carry Danish modern design principles forward. Innovative design work is also encouraged by the Wilhelm Hansen Foundation with the annual Finn Juhl Prize which is awarded to designers, manufacturers or writers who have made a special contribution to the field of furniture design, especially chairs.

Main contributors

As a result of the furniture school he founded at the Royal Academy in 1924, Klint had an impact on Danish furniture, influencing designers such as Kjærholm and Mogensen. His carefully researched designs are based on functionality, proportions in line with the human body, craftsmanship and the use of high quality materials. Notable examples of his work include the Propeller Stool (1927), the Safari Chair and the Deck Chair (both 1933), and the Church Chair (1936). Often credited with having introduced Danish Modern design to America, Risom was a graduate of Copenhagen School of Industrial Arts and Design. He emigrated to the United States in 1939 to study American design, working first as a textile designer and later as a freelance furniture designer. In 1941 he joined Hans Knoll at the Hans Knoll Furniture Company, and together they toured the country promoting Risom's designs. A true minimalist, Risom worked mainly in wood because it was cheap, and one of his most successful pieces, Knoll Chair #654 (which is still being manufactured) was made with a seat of nylon webbing that had been discarded by the army.

Other contributors

Many other designers and cabinetmakers contributed to the Danish modern scene. Several worked in partnerships, including: A number of cabinetmakers also developed skills in design. They include: Several other individuals made important contributions: A number of Danish textile designers worked closely with furniture designers to help shape the look of Danish modernism, for example by creating textiles for cushions, sofas, and beds. These include Lis Ahlmann and Vibeke Klint, among others.

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