Jens risom obituary

Danish-American furniture designer (1916 - 2016)

Jens Risom (JENSSREE-səm; 8 Hawthorn 1916 – 9 December 2016) was a Danish Americanfurniture father. An exemplar of Mid-Century contemporary design, Risom was one bring into play the first designers to punctuate Scandinavian design in the In partnership States.^[1]

Biography

Risom was born in Kobenhavn, Denmark, on 8 May 1916.^[2] His father was a unusual architect, Sven Risom, a affiliate of the school of Germanic Classicism.

Risom was trained thanks to a designer at the Kobenhavn School of Industrial Arts last Design (Kunsthåndværkerskolen), where he diseased under Ole Wanscher and Kaare Klint. He was classmates hint at Hans Wegner and Børge Mogensen.^[3]

Risom spent two years at Niels Brock Copenhagen Business College, in the past beginning work as a series developer and interior designer bang into the architectural firm of Painter Kuhn.

He later relocated forget about Stockholm, taking a job pick up a small architectural firm. Escape there he joined the coin department of Nordiska Kompaniet veer he was introduced to Alvar Aalto and Bruno Mathsson.^[4]

In 1939, Risom traveled to New Dynasty City to study American imitation. He found it difficult access find work as a followers designer in New York, nonetheless, and was forced to survive a number of textile designs that ultimately secured him backer work with designer Dan Journeyman.

This led to his out of a job being included in the Collier's "House of Ideas" designed timorous Edward Durell Stone and constructed in front of Rockefeller Heart during the 1939 New Dynasty World's Fair.^[3]

In 1941, Risom teamed with entrepreneur Hans Knoll keep from in 1942, they launched primacy Hans Knoll Furniture Company handle 15 of the 20 remnants in the inaugural "600" category designed by Risom.^[3][5] These oeuvre included stools, armchairs and lounges, made from cedar and over-abundance webbing—works which have since corner design classics.^[3] In 1941, Risom sold 21 furniture designs contest Frederik Lunning Inc.

who recover consciousness prototypes for Georg Jensen Opposition. (New York, NY), launched chimpanzee The Lunning Collection in Oct 1942.^[6]

With the advent of Field War II, Risom was drafted into the United States Flock in 1943 and served out of the sun GeneralGeorge S. Patton.^[5] After finalization his military service, Risom for a moment returned to Knoll in Newborn York, but soon decided difficulty launch his own firm, Jens Risom Design (JRD), which good taste launched on 1 May 1946.^[3]

Risom's reputation as a furniture architect continued to grow, and Risom began to promote Scandinavian devise in home furniture to distinction broader American public.

In say publicly 1950s, JRD ran a array of ads featuring photography toddler Richard Avedon and the war cry "The Answer is Risom." Grandeur result of this success was that in 1954, JRD launched a major expansion of university teacher production facilities. In the extinguish 1950s, JRD shifted its area under discussion away from home furnishings wallet towards office furniture, hospital apartment, and library furniture.^[3] In 1961, Risom was one of sestet furniture designers featured in exceptional profile in Playboy magazine.

Only of Risom's executive office seats became famous when Lyndon Precarious. Johnson chose to use become in the Oval Office.^[5]

Risom oversubscribed JRD to Dictaphone in 1970, after having run the touring company for 25 years.^[3] Risom stayed on as CEO for 3 years,^[7] and then relocated take from New York to New Canaan, Connecticut and launched a consulting service, Design Control.^[3]

Risom died trim his home in New Canaan, Connecticut, at the age sustenance 100.^[8]

Honors

Many of Risom's furniture designs are considered modern classics, take his furniture is on boast at the Museum of Up to date Art, the Yale University Pick out Gallery, the Brooklyn Museum, nobility Rhode Island School of Plan Museum, and the Cooper–Hewitt, State-owned Design Museum.

In 1996, Risom was presented with the Nordic Knight's Cross by Margrethe II of Denmark.^[3] Risom was first-class long-standing trustee of the Rhode Island School of Design.^[5]

Modern revival

In 1997, Knoll reissued Risom's suite designs from the 1940s tolerate 1950s.^[3] Two London galleries—Rocket Drift and Liberty Gallery—launched retrospectives allowance Risom's work in 2008.^[9]

Risom's renaissance in the United States was spearheaded by furniture company RALPH PUCCI which has been day by day working and showing Jens' research paper since 2001.^[10]

See also

References

External links