Design story
Hans Wegner lounge chair designed in 1953. The chair has a frame made of solid oak. The loose spring cushions are upholstered in beautiful cognac-coloured aniline leather. Manufactured by Getama, model GE-290A. Cushions are reupholstered in cognac-coloured semi-aniline leather by a professional Danish furniture upholsterer.
Hans Wegner is without a doubt one of the great masters of Danish design. Particularly known for his chairs that, according to Wegner, are not just pieces of furniture but art made to support the human form.
Wegner was born in Southern Denmark, son of a cobbler and on track to follow in his fathers footstep. However, at the age of 14 Wegner entered into an apprenticeship with a local cabinet maker.
Almost all of Wegner’s creations are made of wood. Having worked with wood from an early age and being trained as a cabinetmaker, the designer was very attached to this material. In addition to wood, Wegner also used other traditional construction materials like upholstery, caning, and paper cord.
His style is known for taking traditional elements and pushing them to extreme tolerances. Unlike his contemporaries, Wegner did not focus on materials like fiberglass and plastics like Verner Panton for example.
Wegner designed over 500 chairs out of which 100 was put into production. Many of these chairs have become design icons. Wegner gained great recognition for his furniture and some of his chairs are on permanent display at Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York. Paola Antonelli who is the curator of architecture and design at MoMA, described Wegner’s furniture like this: “First and foremost, it’s comfortable, and saying that it’s comfortable before saying it’s beautiful is really high praise, because the truth is that it’s incredibly elegant.”
In 1961 his “Round Chair” was used during the first nationally televised presidential debate between John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon.
