11
ICONIC PIECES
The Baker sofa is another piece that holds many of the
unique markers of Finn Juhl’s creative and technical
expression. We see the principles and sinuous lines of
modern art, just as we do in the Poet sofa. The sofa’s body
is divided in two, a separation of elements that creates a
visual lightness and naturally exposes the wooden spine
which supports and separates the upholstered wings. It
feels elegant and playful, at one in a new world of modern
art and free spirts, but only allowed by the craftsmanship
that holds centuries of experience.
The France Chair marks another moment in Finn Juhl’s
journey and holds the story of how he adapted and evolved
his work to make commercial sense and so opened up the
American market to Danish mid-century design, at the
forefront of what became known world-wide as ‘Danish
Modern’. Designed for France & Son, in fact a British
entrepreneur who brought Danish design to the US in
the 1950s, the France chair was intended for industrial
production and has a simpler expression than many of Juhl’s
other chairs. But Juhl’s signature is visible in the chair’s
organic shapes and the liberated upholstered elements
which seem to float as if they were freed from the law of
gravity and make the chair seem almost aerodynamic.
Clockwise: France chair designed for France & Son in 1949; Nyhavn Table and Tray Unit
designed with coloured trays according to Goethe’s famous colour circle which are availble
in a yellow / red scale and a blue scale; shown with the 46-Chair designed in 1946