Poul Kjaerholm

With a fascination with steel and a love of natural materials, Poul Kjærholm is considered among the greats of the Danish design pantheon. Born in Østervrå, Denmark in 1929, Kjærholm began as a cabinetmaker's apprentice with Gronbech in 1948, going on to study furniture design at the Danish School of Arts and Crafts in Copenhagen in 1952. He was very articulate about his ideas, and with his natural authority he started an outstanding career as an educator in the same year, but continued to study under Prof. Erik Herløw and Prof. Palle Suenson.

From the mid-1950s, he worked in Hellerup with his friend Ejvind Kold Christiansen, an entrepreneur who, giving him tremendous artistic freedom, produced an extensive range of his furniture. The collaboration lasted until Kjærholm's death in 1980. His distinctive style is evident as early as 1952 in his PKO minimalist plywood series. In 1958, he attracted international acclaim for his contributions to the 'Formes Scandinaves' exhibition in Paris and was awarded the legendary 'Lunning Award', the same year for his PK22 chair. In the years 1957 and 1960 he won the Grand Prize at the Milan Triennale. Furthermore, in 1959 he became assistant at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts in Copenhagen and lecturer. He became head of the Institute for Design in 1973 and finally professor in 1967 succeeding none other than Ole Wanscher.

Pieces designed by Poul Kjærholm represent a blend of craftsmanship, new techniques and technologies. This approach is revealed in his diploma piece, the "PK 25" chair. The frame was made of cut, chromium-plated steel, the seat and back of flag cable wrapped around the frame and pulled taut. The furniture Poul Kjærholm designed often get classified as Classical Modern, with the stringent formalism of that school, moderated by softer, lighter forms.

While his contemporaries opted for wood as their primary furniture construction material, Kjærholm chose steel as his primary, but always combined it with other materials such as wood, leather, cane or marble. Kjærholm viewed steel as a natural material, which, in his eyes, possessed aesthetic qualities on a par with those of wood: "Steel’s constructive potential is not the only thing that interests me; the refraction of light on its surface is an important part of my artistic work. I consider steel a material with the same artistic merit as wood and leather," he commented.

In 1982, Fritz Hansen took over the production and sales of "The Kjærholm Collection", developed from 1951 to 1967, designs, which are logical to the minute detail with an aura of exclusivity. His designs are in the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Victoria and Albert Museum in London and other museum collections in Denmark, Norway, Sweden and Germany. Through his work as an architect and teacher, Poul Kjærholm became an international design figure and key representative of modernism. ~H.

Interesting literature:

The Furniture of Poul Kjaerholm: Catalogue Raisonné, Michael Sheridan, Gregory R. Miller & Co., 2008