Poul Kjærholm

Poul Kjærholm (1929-1980) graduated from the Copenhagen School of Arts and Crafts in 1952 and subsequently went on to teach there until 1956. His further academic career led him from lecturer at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts in 1959 to Head of the Institute of Design in 1973 and finally to a professorship in 1976.

Kjærholm was a true master of making a lengthy and difficult production process appear effortless in the finished piece of furniture. While most of his contemporaries preferred wood as their primary material, Kjærholm chose steel but always combined it with other natural materials like wood, leather, cane and marble. “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 once said about his favourite material.

As opposed to most of the cabinetmakers Kjærholm had worked with in the beginning of his career, manufacturer E. Kold Christensen had a deep understanding of Kjærholm’s intentions and the pair enjoyed an extraordinary close collaboration. E. Kold Christensen produced most of Kjærholm’s designs up until Kjærholm’s death in 1980.

Kjærholm’s work is represented at numerous international museums, most notably in the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art in New York and at the V&A Museum in London. He won several awards including two Grand Prix at the Milan Triennale in 1957 and 1960, the Lunning Award in 1958 and the ID Award in 1973.