Just one good chair

Designmuseum Danmark marks the 100-year anniversary of Hans J. Wegner’s birth with a large exhibition that features more than 150 of his major original works.

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Hans J. Wegner (1914-2007) was one of history’s most prolific designers. In 1949 he created the design that the Americans called “The Chair”. The perfect chair – but he continued designing new ones nonetheless, producing a total of over 500.

He was referred to as “The King of Chairs” – or just the “Chair Maker”. His furniture paved the way for Danish Design’s international breakthrough in the years after World War II, and he was to become a leading figure in Organic Modernism.

The exhibition tells the story of Wegner’s life and career, showing more than 150 of his major original works from the time, drawings, photos and models, exploring Wegner’s working methods and vast oeuvre. It is also possible to try out and touch over 50 newly produced Wegner-pieces in the exhibition. Along with film and furniture, by some of his contemporaries, like Charles & Ray Eames, Finn Juhl, Arne Jacobsen and Mies van der Rohe, the exhibition shows how the finest wooden furniture is made.

Top: Hans J. Wegner among his chairs. Above: "Wegner. Just one good chair", Designmuseum Danmark, Copenhagen. Exhibition view

The exhibition tells the story of how and why Wegner and Danish design made such an impression in the 1950s throughout America and the rest of the world. What makes Danish design special in relation to German, American and Italian design, for instance? And why is Danish design, and Wegner’s in particular, so popular in Asia today, serving as a model for so many of the greatest designers of our time – such as Jasper Morrison, Naoto Fukasawa, Tadao Ando and Konstantin Grcic. The exhibition shows not only Wegner’s work, but also some of the most significant post-war Danish and international designers; works of historical inspiration from the Designmuseum Danmark’s collection; and also current international work, inspired by Danish design.

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