FOR THE LOVE OF: POUL KJAERHOLM

kjærholm is one of my favorite danish designers. maybe one of my favorite designers. period. all of us have seen, lusted and lived with his beautiful design through our lifetimes and someday i will surprise myself with a birthday present and bring a piece of poul home.

kjærholm was a skilled carpenter and completed his education at the danish school of arts and crafts under the brilliant hans wegner. he worked at fritz hansen, another absolute favorite for about a year where he created some very well known chair prototypes. after three years of study wegner assigned kjærholm for a project in which he, among other things, developed a lounge chair. this chair was later exhibited and got attention from søren hansen, at that time director of Fritz Hansen. The director, on advice from wegner, hired kjærholm. however, kjaerholm left after less than a year due to a dispute over the production of his work. there is an anecdote connected to kjærholm leaving his work with fritz hansen. the anecdote says that kjærholm offered fritz hansen a plywood molded chair to which fritz hansen said that they already had a plywood chair, namely the ant chair by jacobsen. According to the story, kjærholm then said that they had to choose between the two chairs. fritz hansen replied to this with something in the line of: “your chair is nice, but we already made the mold for the other chair, therefore Goodbye and Good luck”- source

after fritz hansen, kjærholm joined the manufacturer ejvind kold christensen. the colab continued until kjærholm's death in 1980. '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. In 2007 fritz hansen added two new pieces to the kjærholm collection. Pieces that were never in production before, the pk8™ side chair and pk58™ dining table'. each of his furniture pieces are labeled with the initials pk followed by a number from a series. his work has often been described as 'modest in means, rich in expression. Unlike his Scandinavian contemporaries, who worked primarily in wood, Kjærholm revered the properties of steel and used it as his construction material of choice. His resulting works are undeniably understated and elegant, with an emphasis on clean lines and remarkable attention to detail.

i am forever obsessed by the absolute magic that happens with the perfect marriage between kjærholm's minimalistic frame structures and the clean blend of the materials. here i share with you some of my favorite works of art by dear ol' kjærholm. the pk9 has my name written all over it.

pk12 in hand braided brown leather, fritz hansen

pk9 (drool) in black Elegance leather, fritz hansen

swooning here. the gorgeous pk22, known as his breakthrough piece image courtesy

pk24 lounge, image courtesy

the gorgeous pk33, cushion in leather 

 
 pk 80

 yes, i am in love. drop, pk55, pk11

'steel’s constructive potentials are not the only thing that interest 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.' -poul kjærholm

i hope you all enjoyed this journey into the world of brilliance that is poul kjærholm. now to figure how and when i can get my hands on those dreamy pk9 chairs. here


happy dreaming!

xo

HM