Incollect Magazine - Issue 3

Issue 3 104 www.incollect.com Vodder’s Credenza 29 in rosewood with colored panels that reverse to rosewood. The original model was winner of a Gold Medal at the 1958 Milan Triennale design awards. From Studio Schalling on Incollect. Arne Vodder Trained as an architect and cabinetmaker, Arne Vodder is admired first and foremost for his Model 29A sideboard made inf rosewood, often accented with colorful reversible door panels. It is one of Vodder’s most popular and recognizable designs, shown at the Milan Triennale in 1957 where it won First Prize. Finn Juhl was his teacher at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, and became his mentor, friend and later his business partner in the production of furniture. Vodder had an important solo career as a designer for Fritz Hansen, France & Søn and Sibast Mobler among other furniture companies. His designs are in the manner of Juhl — generally simple, functional, and geometric in appearance, though Vodder always insisted that his work was inspired by natural forms. He worked primarily in wood, primarily rosewood and teak. The designs lend themselves well to office environments, and his furniture was chosen by Jimmy Carter for the White House, and for the offices of President Anwar Sadat of Egypt and Pope Paul VI. The highly acclaimed NV-45 armchair designed by Finn Juhl with cabinetmaker Niels Vodder. The seat and back float above the wooden frame, to distinguish the “supporting” elements (the frame) from the “supported” elements, an innovative approach that broke with tradition and resulted in a very light, fluid and organic form. Presented at the Copenhagen Cabinetmakers Guild Exhibition in 1945. From Flavor on Incollect. Finn Juhl The words simple and functional apply to the work of many Scandinavian designers. But when it comes to Finn Juhl they mean something else entirely: he was a design maverick among his peers, blessed with the same avant garde attitude as Jacobsen when it came to design concepts and yet firmly committed to the core principles of Scandinavian mid century design including the use of natural materials and fine craftsmanship. His “Pelican Chair” designed in 1940 and still in production today after more than 80 years, is a radical piece of organic contemporary sculpture, Surrealist in its conception with an anthropomorphic shape that gracefully and warmly embraces the sitter. The reception of his work was initially somewhat frosty, but over time was proven popular as well as influential, because it took Scandinavian design in a more playful direction. Juhl had a conventional early career, studying architecture and design and then working briefly as an architect before establishing his own design firm in 1945 — the same year that he released his NV45 lounge chair designed for Niels Vodder, with a free-floating, suspended back and seating area on a seemingly detached, fluidly organic wooden frame that is widely regarded as a quiet revolution in the history of chair design. He completely detached the base and back of the chair from the supporting frame. This became a signature element in subsequent designs like his 1954 elegant but no less inventive “Spade” armchairs, with a slatted wood back and seat support suspending loose upholstered cushions. Juhl was also one of the first Scandinavian designers to experiment with color which can be seen in a range of cabinets and credenzas that remain highly prized today. Sleek, teak, and mid- century to the max, Credenza Model 29 with rare floating hutch by Arne Vodder for Sibast Møbler, Denmark, 1959. From De Angelis on Incollect. The Chieftan Chair is considered Finn Juhl’s most powerful work, a masterpiece of modern design. Described by a critic at the 1949 Cabinetmakers Guild Exhibition where it debuted as being . . . “so lively that it seems trembling with vitality,” the design of the horned, shield-shaped back and armrests appear to have tribal influences, bringing a bold and dynamic presence to this piece. From TFTM on Incollect.