Modernist Jens Risom Floating Executive Desk in Peruvian Walnut

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Modernist Jens Risom Floating Executive Desk in Peruvian Walnut

About the Item

Stunning Mid-Century Modern executive desk designed by Jens Risom. Desk has all of the ammenities including, large file drawer, pencil drawer, pull-out tray, caned modesty panel, stainless steel levelers. Beautiful hand pulls, trimmed in stainless, rare figured Peruvian walnut. Jens Risom was born in Copenhagen, Denmark, on 8 May 1916. His father was a prominent architect, Sven Risom, a member of the school of Nordic Classicism. Jens Risom was trained as a designer at the Copenhagen School of Industrial Arts and Design (Kunsthåndværkerskolen), where he studied under Ole Wanscher and Kaare Klint. He was classmates with Hans Wegner and Børge Mogensen. [2] Risom then spent two years at Niels Brock Copenhagen Business College, before beginning work as a furniture developer and interior designer with the architectural firm of Ernst Kuhn. He later relocated to Stockholm, taking a job with a small architectural firm. From there he joined the design department of Nordiska Kompaniet and gained such a reputation that he was introduced to Alvar Aalto and Bruno Mathsson. In 1939, Risom traveled to New York City to study American design. He found it difficult to find work as a furniture designer in New York, however, and was forced to accept a number of textile designs that ultimately secured him freelance work with designer Dan Cooper. This led to his work being included in the Collier's "House of Ideas" designed by Edward Durell Stone and constructed in front of Rockefeller Center during the 1939 New York World's Fair. In 1941, Risom teamed with entrepreneur Hans Knoll and in 1942, they launched the Hans Knoll Furniture Company with 15 of the 20 pieces in the inaugural "600" line designed by Risom.[2][3] These works included stools, armchairs and lounges, made from cedar and surplus webbing works which have since become design classics. With the advent of World War II, Risom was drafted into the United States Army in 1943 and served under General George S. Patton. [3] After completing his military service, Risom briefly returned to Knoll in New York, but soon decided to launch his own firm, Jens Risom Design (JRD), which he launched on 1 May 1946. Risom's reputation as a furniture designer continued to grow and Risom began to promote Scandinavian design in home furniture to the broader American public. In the 1950s, JRD ran a series of ads featuring photography by Richard Avedon and the slogan "The Answer is Risom." The result of this success was that in 1954, JRD launched a major Expansion of its production facilities. In the late 1950s, JRD shifted its focus away from home furnishings and towards office furniture, hospital furniture, and library furniture. [2] In 1961, Risom was one of six furniture designers featured in a profile in Playboy magazine. One of Risom's executive office chairs became famous when Lyndon B. Johnson chose to use it in the oval office. Risom sold JRD to Dictaphone in 1970, after having run the company for 25 years. [2] Risom stayed on as CEO for three years, [4] and then relocated from New York to New Canaan, Connecticut and launched a consulting service, Design Control.

Creator:
Jens Risom (Designer)
Dimensions:
Height: 29.5 in (74.93 cm)Width: 72 in (182.88 cm)Depth: 36 in (91.44 cm)
Style:
Mid-Century Modern (Of the Period)
Materials and Techniques:
Stainless Steel,Walnut,Oiled
Place of Origin:
United States
Period:
Mid-20th Century
Date of Manufacture:
1950
Condition:
Seller Location:
Buffalo, NY
Reference Number:
1stDibs: LU106242223782

Shop All Jens Risom

Jens Risom

The Danish-born Jens Risom brought the Scandinavian modern design sensibility to a wide audience in the United States. As the first designer for Knoll Inc., Risom introduced American buyers to the region’s enduring design values of simplicity, grace and craftsmanship.

Risom trained in furniture making at the Copenhagen School of Industrial Arts and Design under Ole Wanscher, alongside classmates Hans Wegner and Børge Mogensen. In 1939, a year after graduating from business school, Risom decided to move to the U.S.

While working for an interior designer in New York in 1941, he met Hans Knoll, and the businessman and the designer hit it off. They brought out their first line the next year, despite wartime materials restrictions. The signature piece — now a design icon — was a lounge chair with a striking, undulant birch frame and a seat made of webbed sub-military grade parachute straps. Risom was drafted into the army, and served as a translator under General George Patton. When he returned from the war, Risom clashed over furniture design ideals with his business partner’s new bride, Florence Knoll, the pioneering mid-century modernist who was schooled in the Bauhaus method, which favored furniture with strict, geometric metal frames. Risom then started his own company, Jens Risom Design.

In the course of his long career, Risom developed a stylistic vocabulary that was a reflection of the life of the man himself: his furniture has Danish warmth coupled with an American air of crisp efficiency. Vintage Risom chairs are almost instantly recognizable — the arms and seat backs are set at a distinctive angle that seems to invite people to sit back and relax, yet they know they can hop up in an instant, ready to go.

As you will see on these pages, Jens Risom is one of the great men of American modern design who made furniture that is unique and timeless.

Find a collection of vintage Jens Risom furniture on 1stDibs that includes lounge chairs, desks, coffee tables and more.