Poul Kjaerholm

The furniture designer Poul Kjaerholm ranks with Arne Jacobsen, Poul Henningsen, Verner Panton, and Hans Wegner as one of the leading exponents of the legendary Danish design. Born in Oster Vra in 1929, Poul Kjaerholm served an apprenticeship in carpentry before studying furniture design at the Copenhagen School for the Applied Arts from 1949 until 1952. From 1952 until 1956 Poul Kjaerholm taught at the Copenhagen School for the Applied Arts and, in 1976, he became a professor at the Art Academy in Copenhagen, of which he was director until he died in 1980.

Pieces designed by Poul Kjaerholm represent a blend of craftsmanship and new techniques and technologies. The seat furniture Poul Kjaerholm designed can be called Classical Modern, with the stringent formalism of that school moderated by softer, lighter forms and the typical Scandinavian use of such natural materials as wood, leather, and woven cane.