Verner Panton Lighting

Verner Panton introduced the word “groovy” — or at least its Danish equivalent — into the Scandinavian modern design lexicon. He developed fantastical, futuristic forms and embraced bright colors and new materials such as plastic, fabric-covered polyurethane foam and steel-wire framing. And Panton’s ebullient Pop art sensibility made him an international design star of the 1960s and ’70s. This radical departure from classic Danish modernism, however, actually stemmed from his training under the greats of that design style.
Born on the largely rural Danish island of Funen, Panton studied architecture and engineering at Copenhagen’s Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, where the lighting designer Poul Henningsen was one of his teachers. After graduating, in 1951, Panton worked in the architectural office of Arne Jacobsen, and he became a close friend of Hans Wegner's.
Henningsen taught a scientific approach to design; Jacobsen was forever researching new materials; and Wegner, the leader in modern furniture design using traditional woodworking and joinery, encouraged experimental form. Panton opened his own design office in 1955, issuing tubular steel chairs with woven seating. His iconoclastic aesthetic was announced with his 1958 Cone chair, modified a year later as the Heart Cone chair. Made of upholstered sheet metal and with a conical base in place of legs, the design shocked visitors to a Copenhagen furniture fair.
Panton went on to successive bravura technical feats. His curving, stackable 1960 Panton chair, his most popular design, was the first chair to be made from a single piece of molded plastic. Three years later, he introduced the S model, the first legless chair crafted from a single piece of plywood, cantilevered on a round metal base. Panton would spend the latter 1960s and early ’70s developing all-encompassing room environments composed of sinuous and fluid-formed modular seating made of foam and metal wire. He also created a series of remarkable lighting designs, most notably his Fun chandeliers — introduced in 1964 and composed of scores of shimmering capiz-shell disks — and the Space Age VP Globe pendant light of 1969.
As you will see from the offerings on 1stDibs, Verner Panton’s designs are made to stand out and put an eye-catching exclamation point on even the most modern decor.
21st Century and Contemporary Danish Scandinavian Modern Verner Panton Lighting
Steel
1960s Swiss Vintage Verner Panton Lighting
Shell
1970s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Verner Panton Lighting
Brass
21st Century and Contemporary Danish Scandinavian Modern Verner Panton Lighting
Steel, Aluminum
1960s Danish Mid-Century Modern Vintage Verner Panton Lighting
Metal, Chrome
Early 2000s Danish Verner Panton Lighting
Metal
1970s Danish Scandinavian Modern Vintage Verner Panton Lighting
Metal, Enamel
21st Century and Contemporary Danish Scandinavian Modern Verner Panton Lighting
Steel
1970s Danish Mid-Century Modern Vintage Verner Panton Lighting
Chrome
21st Century and Contemporary Danish Modern Verner Panton Lighting
Metal
21st Century and Contemporary Danish Modern Verner Panton Lighting
Metal, Aluminum
21st Century and Contemporary Danish Scandinavian Modern Verner Panton Lighting
Aluminum, Steel
20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Verner Panton Lighting
Chrome
21st Century and Contemporary Danish Modern Verner Panton Lighting
Steel
21st Century and Contemporary Danish Scandinavian Modern Verner Panton Lighting
Brass
21st Century and Contemporary Danish Modern Verner Panton Lighting
Acrylic
1960s Swiss Mid-Century Modern Vintage Verner Panton Lighting
Shell
21st Century and Contemporary Danish Scandinavian Modern Verner Panton Lighting
Steel
21st Century and Contemporary Danish Modern Verner Panton Lighting
Metal
21st Century and Contemporary Danish Modern Verner Panton Lighting
Metal
21st Century and Contemporary Danish Modern Verner Panton Lighting
Stainless Steel
Mid-20th Century Danish Scandinavian Modern Verner Panton Lighting
Enamel
21st Century and Contemporary Danish Modern Verner Panton Lighting
Steel
1960s Danish Scandinavian Modern Vintage Verner Panton Lighting
Metal
21st Century and Contemporary Danish Modern Verner Panton Lighting
Metal
21st Century and Contemporary Danish Modern Verner Panton Lighting
Metal
Mid-20th Century Danish Scandinavian Modern Verner Panton Lighting
Metal
21st Century and Contemporary Danish Modern Verner Panton Lighting
Metal
21st Century and Contemporary Danish Modern Verner Panton Lighting
Metal
1970s Danish Vintage Verner Panton Lighting
Brass, Gold
Early 2000s Danish Space Age Verner Panton Lighting
Chrome, Wire
21st Century and Contemporary Danish Scandinavian Modern Verner Panton Lighting
Steel
21st Century and Contemporary Danish Modern Verner Panton Lighting
Stainless Steel
21st Century and Contemporary Danish Scandinavian Modern Verner Panton Lighting
Aluminum, Steel
1960s German Mid-Century Modern Vintage Verner Panton Lighting
Chrome
Mid-20th Century Danish Mid-Century Modern Verner Panton Lighting
Metal
Early 2000s Danish Scandinavian Modern Verner Panton Lighting
Aluminum
21st Century and Contemporary Danish Scandinavian Modern Verner Panton Lighting
Aluminum, Steel
1970s Danish Mid-Century Modern Vintage Verner Panton Lighting
Metal
21st Century and Contemporary Danish Modern Verner Panton Lighting
Metal
20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Verner Panton Lighting
Chrome
21st Century and Contemporary Danish Modern Verner Panton Lighting
Metal
1960s Swiss Mid-Century Modern Vintage Verner Panton Lighting
Metal
21st Century and Contemporary Danish Modern Verner Panton Lighting
Metal
21st Century and Contemporary Danish Modern Verner Panton Lighting
Metal
21st Century and Contemporary Danish Modern Verner Panton Lighting
Metal
1960s Swiss Mid-Century Modern Vintage Verner Panton Lighting
Metal
21st Century and Contemporary Danish Scandinavian Modern Verner Panton Lighting
Steel
21st Century and Contemporary Danish Modern Verner Panton Lighting
Stainless Steel
21st Century and Contemporary Danish Modern Verner Panton Lighting
Metal
1960s Danish Scandinavian Modern Vintage Verner Panton Lighting
Opaline Glass, Acrylic
1970s Danish Mid-Century Modern Vintage Verner Panton Lighting
Metal, Enamel
21st Century and Contemporary Danish Modern Verner Panton Lighting
Metal
21st Century and Contemporary Danish Scandinavian Modern Verner Panton Lighting
Acrylic
21st Century and Contemporary Danish Modern Verner Panton Lighting
Metal
2010s Danish Mid-Century Modern Verner Panton Lighting
Acrylic
Mid-20th Century Danish Mid-Century Modern Verner Panton Lighting
Chrome
20th Century Danish Mid-Century Modern Verner Panton Lighting
Metal