Set of Two Pelican Chairs by Finn Juhl in Wood and Fabric

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Set of Two Pelican Chairs by Finn Juhl in Wood and Fabric

About the Item

Set of two Pelican chairs designed by Finn Juhl in 1940. Manufactured by House of Finn Juhl in Denmark. Pelican chair was probably the one furthest ahead of its time. When it was presented at the Copenhagen Cabinetmakers’ Guild Exhibition in 1940, it stood out with its unusual shape and sturdy legs. The characteristic soft and organic shape is almost like a body holding a body. When you sit down, the chair practically gives you a friendly hug. Like many of Finn Juhl’s later designs, the chair offers several comfortable ways to sit. Materials: Walnut Fabric Dimensions: W 85 cm x D 76 cm x H 68 cm Seat height 37 cm Production delay: 8-9 weeks Please note that some of the images show other colors and variations of the model, these images are only to present interior design proposals. The item that is selling is on the first image. Finn Juhl was born on January 30, 1912 in Copenhagen. He wished to study art history, however, his father would not allow it. Instead, Finn Juhl began studying architecture at the Royal Academy of Arts in Copenhagen. Here, he studied under some of the most influential functionalists of his time. Among these was the great architect Vilhelm Lauritzen who hired Finn Juhl at his own studio in 1934 before Finn Juhl had even graduated. Eventually, the work took up all of his time and Finn Juhl never finished his studies. Later in life he always described himself as a self-taught furniture designer. One of the international highlights of Finn Juhl’s career was designing the complete interior of the Trusteeship Council Chamber at the UN headquarters in New York between 1951 and 1952. His sculptural furniture is widely appreciated all over the world. Today, Finn Juhl is still considered the father of Danish Modern, the design movement from Denmark, that arose during the 1950s in the United States. At the time of his death in 1989, Finn Juhl had become an award-winning and highly respected international furniture artist. Finn Juhl was greatly inspired by both modernism in art and functionalism in architecture. His genius was cross-pollinating these two fields, thus creating a completely new artistic idiom. Like sculptures, Finn Juhl’s designs are created to stand freely in a room. At the same time, they are developed with a playful insight into the practical function of every detail. In 2001 House of Finn Juhl trusted with the exclusive rights to manufacture and relaunch Finn Juhl’s sculptural and iconic furniture by Finn Juhl’s widow Hanne Wilhelm Hansen. Today the unique Finn Juhl collection consists of more than 40 classic masterpieces, all of which they manufacture with the utmost respect for the original heritage and strict demands for quality.

Creator:
Finn Juhl (Designer)
Dimensions:
Height: 26.78 in (68 cm)Width: 33.47 in (85 cm)Depth: 29.93 in (76 cm)Seat Height: 14.57 in (37 cm)
Sold As:
Set of 2
Style:
Modern (In the Style Of)
Materials and Techniques:
Fabric,Wood
Place of Origin:
Denmark
Period:
2010-
Date of Manufacture:
Contemporary
Production Type:
New & Custom(Current Production)
Estimated Production Time:
8-9 weeks
Condition:
Wear consistent with age and use.
Seller Location:
Barcelona, ES
Reference Number:
Seller: FJ.PELICAN.2.SET21stDibs: LU1427223372072

Shop All Finn Juhl

Finn Juhl

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.