Finn Juhl Seating
Along with Hans Wegner, Arne Jacobsen and Børge Mogensen, Finn Juhl was one of the great masters of mid-20th-century Danish design. Juhl was the first among that group to have his work promoted overseas, bringing the character of the nation’s furnishings — and the inherent principles of grace, craftsmanship and utility on which they were based — to an international audience. A stylistic maverick, Juhl embraced expressive, free-flowing shapes in chair and sofa designs much earlier than his colleagues, yet even his quietest pieces incorporate supple, curving forms that are at once elegant and ergonomic.
As a young man, Juhl hoped to become an art historian, but his father steered him into a more practical course of study in architecture. He began designing furniture in the late 1930s, a discipline in which, despite his education, Juhl was self-taught, and quite proud of the fact. His earliest works, designed in the late 1930s, are perhaps his most idiosyncratic. The influence of contemporary art is clear in Juhl's 1939 Pelican chair: an almost Surrealist take on the classic wing chair. Critics reviled the piece, however; one said it looked like a "tired walrus." Juhl had tempered his creativity by 1945, when the Danish furniture-making firm Niels Vodder began to issue his designs. Yet his now-classic NV 45 armchair still demonstrates panache, with a seat that floats above the chair’s teak frame.
Juhl first exhibited his work in the United States in 1950, championed by Edgar Kaufmann Jr., an influential design critic and scion of America’s most prominent family of modern architecture and design patrons. (Kaufmann’s father commissioned Frank Lloyd Wright’s design of the house “Fallingwater.”) Juhl quickly won a following for such signature designs as the supremely comfortable Chieftan lounge chair, the biomorphic Baker sofa, and the Judas table, a piece ornamented with stylish inlaid silver plaquettes.
As you will see from the offerings on 1stDibs, Finn Juhl’s furniture — as well as his lighting, ceramics, tableware and accessories — has an air of relaxed sophistication and elegance that is unique in the realm of mid-20th-century design.
1960s Danish Scandinavian Modern Vintage Finn Juhl Seating
Fabric
2010s Danish Modern Finn Juhl Seating
Sheepskin, Wood
Mid-20th Century Danish Mid-Century Modern Finn Juhl Seating
Fabric, Teak
1950s Danish Scandinavian Modern Vintage Finn Juhl Seating
Fabric, Teak
1960s Danish Scandinavian Modern Vintage Finn Juhl Seating
Leather, Teak
1960s Danish Scandinavian Modern Vintage Finn Juhl Seating
Teak
Mid-20th Century Danish Finn Juhl Seating
Leather, Wood
1950s Danish Scandinavian Modern Vintage Finn Juhl Seating
Fabric, Teak
2010s Danish Modern Finn Juhl Seating
Sheepskin, Wood
1960s Danish Scandinavian Modern Vintage Finn Juhl Seating
Fabric, Teak
Mid-20th Century Danish Scandinavian Modern Finn Juhl Seating
Upholstery, Teak
1950s American Mid-Century Modern Vintage Finn Juhl Seating
Fabric, Walnut
1950s Danish Mid-Century Modern Vintage Finn Juhl Seating
Wool
Mid-20th Century Danish Scandinavian Modern Finn Juhl Seating
Leather, Upholstery, Teak
1950s Danish Scandinavian Modern Vintage Finn Juhl Seating
Fabric, Teak
1960s Danish Scandinavian Modern Vintage Finn Juhl Seating
Leather
1960s Danish Scandinavian Modern Vintage Finn Juhl Seating
Leather, Teak
1960s Danish Scandinavian Modern Vintage Finn Juhl Seating
Wool, Teak
1950s Danish Scandinavian Modern Vintage Finn Juhl Seating
Upholstery, Teak
Mid-20th Century Danish Mid-Century Modern Finn Juhl Seating
Upholstery, Rosewood
Mid-20th Century Danish Scandinavian Modern Finn Juhl Seating
Teak
1950s Danish Scandinavian Modern Vintage Finn Juhl Seating
Fabric, Teak
Mid-20th Century Scandinavian Scandinavian Modern Finn Juhl Seating
Upholstery, Teak
1950s Danish Scandinavian Modern Vintage Finn Juhl Seating
Metal
1960s Mid-Century Modern Vintage Finn Juhl Seating
Teak
1940s Danish Scandinavian Modern Vintage Finn Juhl Seating
Fabric, Teak
2010s Danish Scandinavian Modern Finn Juhl Seating
Leather, Wood
1950s Danish Mid-Century Modern Vintage Finn Juhl Seating
Teak
1970s Japanese Mid-Century Modern Vintage Finn Juhl Seating
Upholstery, Wood
1950s American Scandinavian Modern Vintage Finn Juhl Seating
Fabric, Walnut
20th Century Finn Juhl Seating
Teak
2010s Danish Modern Finn Juhl Seating
Wood, Sheepskin
Mid-20th Century Danish Scandinavian Modern Finn Juhl Seating
Upholstery, Teak
1960s Mid-Century Modern Vintage Finn Juhl Seating
Upholstery, Teak
1960s Danish Vintage Finn Juhl Seating
Faux Leather, Teak
1950s American Mid-Century Modern Vintage Finn Juhl Seating
Walnut
2010s Danish Finn Juhl Seating
Brass
1950s Danish Modern Vintage Finn Juhl Seating
Teak, Synthetic
1950s Danish Mid-Century Modern Vintage Finn Juhl Seating
Mohair, Teak
1950s Danish Scandinavian Modern Vintage Finn Juhl Seating
Leather, Teak
Mid-20th Century Danish Scandinavian Modern Finn Juhl Seating
Textile, Rosewood
1950s Danish Scandinavian Modern Vintage Finn Juhl Seating
Leather, Teak
Mid-20th Century Danish Scandinavian Modern Finn Juhl Seating
Naugahyde, Teak
Mid-20th Century Danish Scandinavian Modern Finn Juhl Seating
Cane, Oak, Teak
1950s Danish Scandinavian Modern Vintage Finn Juhl Seating
Fabric, Teak, Wool, Linen
1950s Danish Scandinavian Modern Vintage Finn Juhl Seating
Brass
1950s Swedish Mid-Century Modern Vintage Finn Juhl Seating
Upholstery, Teak
1970s Danish Mid-Century Modern Vintage Finn Juhl Seating
Wood
Mid-20th Century Danish Mid-Century Modern Finn Juhl Seating
Leather, Rosewood
Mid-20th Century Danish Mid-Century Modern Finn Juhl Seating
Teak
1940s American Scandinavian Modern Vintage Finn Juhl Seating
Leather, Walnut
1950s Danish Scandinavian Modern Vintage Finn Juhl Seating
Upholstery, Teak
1950s American Scandinavian Modern Vintage Finn Juhl Seating
Teak
1950s Indian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Finn Juhl Seating
Cane, Teak
1960s Danish Scandinavian Modern Vintage Finn Juhl Seating
Fabric, Wool, Rosewood
1950s Danish Scandinavian Modern Vintage Finn Juhl Seating
Fabric, Teak
1960s Danish Scandinavian Modern Vintage Finn Juhl Seating
Teak, Faux Leather
1960s Danish Mid-Century Modern Vintage Finn Juhl Seating
Leather, Foam, Wood, Teak