Hans Wegner Dies at 92; Danish Furniture Designer

<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8MpJOLXaB8JHvzjuClIEp18Yo4cr9KGmpZjoXY0auqEA3fpbtWZpzOEwhZyDjyCwbCYmjKU2DFyNCEL6LtWiOx_wekG8Zl85FzDb3G9xrZ2kSw1R56ksjITkzzJTTj65r6-NtvXPmt_ch/s1600-h/07wegner.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5029562148527762034" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8MpJOLXaB8JHvzjuClIEp18Yo4cr9KGmpZjoXY0auqEA3fpbtWZpzOEwhZyDjyCwbCYmjKU2DFyNCEL6LtWiOx_wekG8Zl85FzDb3G9xrZ2kSw1R56ksjITkzzJTTj65r6-NtvXPmt_ch/s400/07wegner.jpg" style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" /></a><br /><i> Hans Wegner at his home in 1997.</i><br /><br />By DAVID COLMAN<br />reprinted from the NY Times, February 6, 2007 [ABRIDGED VERSION]<br /><br />Hans Wegner, whose Danish Modern furniture — most famously his chairs — helped change the course of design history in the 1950s and ’60s by sanding modernism’s sharp edges and giving aesthetes a comfortable seat, died on Jan. 26 in Copenhagen. He was 92.<br /><br />Associated Press<br /><br /><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/06/arts/design/06wegner.html?ex=157680000&en=f0210292456dbd18&ei=5124&partner=permalink&exprod=permalink">For the entire obituary from the New York Times, click here.</a><br /><br />Mr. Wegner (pronounced VEG-ner in English and VAY-ner in Danish) was one of a small group of Danish furniture designers whose elegant but comfortable creations made Danish Modern all the rage among cosmopolitan Americans of the ’50s and ’60s.<br /><br />Their works, often made in warm blond wood, domesticated the cold chrome shine of the Bauhaus-influenced International style. In the process, they found a way to dovetail the words “Danish” and “modern” for the first time, joining cabinetmaker-guild traditions of high craftsmanship, quality and comfort with modernist principles of simplicity and graphic beauty.<br /><br />Over the last decade he was able to witness a surge of renewed interest in his work. Mid-century Modern furniture is again in high demand, according to spokesmen for P P Mobler and Carl Hansen. What was a chic look a half-century ago has today joined the pantheon of mainstream style, perhaps a fitting tribute to a man who believed that a chair should be made well enough to last at least 50 years.<br /><br />Below are just a few of his chairs (click on pic to enlarge)<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdFrOvPdF1oxbTGu-CU_F4mxxLuTGLMOQuswmiBHFHxFp_UoistLEkoIaxJuMtj-cyW9OOUC8PlDrstK6KZzqOWDjXxUBhdeWCeQAzEujn9Tc_YSfM9OIWn8jmCiyiIYU0XzebpCYUswJE/s1600-h/HansWegner4PG_02.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5029564029723437714" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdFrOvPdF1oxbTGu-CU_F4mxxLuTGLMOQuswmiBHFHxFp_UoistLEkoIaxJuMtj-cyW9OOUC8PlDrstK6KZzqOWDjXxUBhdeWCeQAzEujn9Tc_YSfM9OIWn8jmCiyiIYU0XzebpCYUswJE/s400/HansWegner4PG_02.jpg" style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" /></a>

Hans Wegner Dies at 92; Danish Furniture Designer

Hans Wegner at his home in 1997. By DAVID COLMAN reprinted from the NY Times, February 6, 2007 [ABRIDGED VERSION] Hans Wegner, whose Danish...

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