Designers

Hans J. Wegner

Hans J. Wegner is one of the 20th century's most important furniture designers. A leader of the Danish Modern style, Wegner is revered for his iconic chairs with their organic beauty and ample comfort. His understanding of wood joinery was unsurpassed, his views on quality uncompromising. Wegner balanced form and function brilliantly.

Born in Tønder, Denmark in 1914, Wegner trained as a cabinetmaker while still a boy, then honed his artistic approach to furniture design at Denmark’s leading design school. Carl Hansen & Son, the Danish furniture maker, began working with Wegner in 1949. Among his first designs for the company were the legendary Wishbone Chair (CH24) and several other designs that are still produced today.

During his long career, Wegner designed more than 500 chairs. He almost singularly brought the chair out of its hiding place as “part of a furniture set” and into its own as modern sculpture. He broke new ground by combining natural materials in imaginative ways, always testing the limits of craftsmanship and serial production.

Wegner's inspirations were diverse. He took his cues from ancient Chinese furniture (Chinese Chair), animals (Peacock Chair), and other elements of nature. He used many materials in addition to wood, including steel, flag line, and paper yarn.

Wegner was demanding and difficult to satisfy, often taking weeks to get the results he wanted from his craftspeople. But he was also limitlessly curious, often playful, and always elegant. "We must take care," he said, "that everything doesn't get so dreadfully serious. We must play – but we must play seriously."

While Wegner was awarded practically every honor possible for a furniture designer, and his chairs are featured in museums around the world, his design is accessible. He believed that chairs were made for sitting. Ergonomics and usability had a central role in his thinking before those words ever entered the mainstream.

Today, Wegner's classic chairs often command prices at auction that are many times the original purchase price. His single most popular chair, the Wishbone Chair, has been produced without interruption since 1950 and is an everyday pleasure in thousands of homes throughout Scandinavia and the rest of the world.

Hans J. Wegner died in Denmark in January, 2007.

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