Design Doesn't Have to Cost a Fortune!

At Bruun Rasmussen, we are probably best known for high-end design, but every week of the year we also sell furniture and lamps from the 1930s to 1970s at prices around a few thousand Danish kroner. Our design specialist Poul Svalgaard Henriksen has selected a handful of these fine furniture pieces from the current Online Auction.

 

The stories of hammer prices reaching several hundred thousand Danish kroner for unique pieces by names such as Finn Juhl and Hans J. Wegner often take up most of the space in the media. Of course, this is part of the story, but at Bruun Rasmussen, we embrace a broader spectrum of furniture and have therefore asked our design specialist Poul Svalgaard Henriksen to point out a few favourites at this week's online design auction – all with estimates from DKK 2,000-8,000.

Arne Jacobsen's School Chair

One of Paul’s favourites is a pair of two teak stacking chairs designed by Arne Jacobsen for his visionary architectural project – the Munkegårdsskole in Gentofte, which was built in the years 1948-57. The school was built on ideas that intended to create the best learning environment, promote an outdoor life and establish manageable spaces for the students. The school became an important source of inspiration for other school buildings around the world in places such as England and the United States. Jacobsen designed the "Munkegård Chair" in three sizes – adapted to the different grade levels of the students. Today, these early models in teak are fairly rare on the auction market.

Lamp Designed by Louisiana’s Architect

The architect Vilhelm Wohlert is the creator of an opal glass lamp, which he designed for the lighting manufacturer Louis Poulsen in 1959. The intention was to create a lamp that was easy to mount and easy to repair. It was produced in several sizes so that it could fit the different rooms of a home. Wohlert is best known for having designed, in collaboration with the architect Jørgen Bo, the building north of Copenhagen that today houses the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art. The internationally recognized museum was built in 1958, and with its interaction with the surrounding nature, the museum created a whole new way of experiencing art. The simple structure of the offered lamp will be a fine fit with most interiors.

Sit Down and Read!

Do you enjoy relaxing with a good book? Then the Swedish architect Bruno Mathsson's easy chair from 1942 might just be the thing for you. Mathsson's father was a fifth-generation cabinetmaker, and the influence from this cannot be denied in Mathsson’s work, just as the international Modernism that he became acquainted with at the Stockholm Exhibition in 1930 also had great importance for his design. Mathsson worked mostly with the bending of forms and laminating of wood, which can be seen in his most famous furniture. The special thing about this particular piece is that the chair has been fitted with an adjustable reading tray. The chair was already in production from 1936 at his father's cabinetmaker company called "Karl Mathsson".

Inspiration from English Soldiers and Art Deco

Another easy chair at the auction is Kaare Klint's classic “Safari Chair”. Klint has rightly been called "the father of Danish furniture art", and as a furniture designer and professor at the Art Academy in Copenhagen, he became a crucial figure of influence for an entire generation of Denmark's most prominent architects. Klint designed the offered chair in 1933, and his goal was to create an easy and transportable easy chair. For inspiration, he turned his attention towards the outdoors and an English officer's chair, which he had seen in a travel book about Africa.

Poul Svalgaard Henriksen has chosen a number of classic design objects from Danish cultural history. The final favourite, however, differs slightly from the Danish design tradition and comes in the shape of two leaf-shaped side tables of nut wood and black glass, which are fine examples of the Art Deco style.

The five favourites will be up for sale together with a large number of other furniture and lamps from the 20th century at our online auction on Tuesday 23 April at 8pm.

View all the lots at this week's online design auction

 

For further information, please contact:

Poul Svalgaard Henriksen: +45 8818 1132 · psh@bruun-rasmussen.dk