Børge Mogensen – Furniture for the People
Børge Mogensen (1914–72) was a leading light in post-war furniture design. Cutting to the bone became his guiding principle, and throughout his long career as a furniture designer, his design was guided by a vision to create simple, practical furniture that would enrich everyday life for everyone. He consistently used this limitation as a creative guideline because the furniture had to be sufficiently restrained not to dominate the free expression of people’s lives.
“My goal is to create things that serve people, that focus firmly on people, instead of forcing people to adapt to things at any cost.”
Børge Mogensen, 1958.
Mogensen initially qualified as a cabinetmaker in 1934 and later graduated from Kunsthåndværkerskolens Møbelskole (Denmark’s School of Art and Design at the Academy of Fine Arts) in 1942. At the age of 28, he was employed by FDB (The Danish Consumers’ Cooperative Society) to head up the creation of healthy, long-lasting and reasonably-priced furniture adapted to modern production equipment. After his time at FDB, he continued from his own private design studio to create some of the most recognised classics of the 1950s and 60s, including the Spanish Chair from 1958 and the legendary Spoke-back Sofa from 1945, which have found their way into countless homes over the years.
While several of his colleagues, including Hans J. Wegner, enjoyed international success, the Danish market was the most important for Mogensen. He rarely deviated from the sober style and the solid, Scandinavian woods and grain leather – materials that he loved in all their guises. His furniture remains the epitome of exquisite craftsmanship to this day, becoming more beautiful over time, with a lived-in patina to the wood and leather.
Highlights from Børge Mogensen at the Auction
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