Arne Jacobsen

(active 1924-1971)

Arne Emil Jacobsen (1902-1971) was an iconic Danish architect and furniture designer. He is remembered for his contribution to the Danish functionalism design philosopy. Together with Alvar Aalto, he is the most famous representative of Scandinavian design. In addition to architectural constructions, he created numerous original chairs designs and other pieces of furniture. He received several international diplomas and medals for his splendid design solutions and remains the most recognizable Danish designer nowadays.

Gifted child, Arne Jacobsen had always had a talent for art. Jacobsen's first profession was a bricklayer. Then in 1924 he entered the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Copenhagen. Still a student, in 1925 Jacobsen took part in the World's Fair, The International Exhibition of Modern Decorative and Industrial Arts in Paris, where he won a silver medal for the design of the chair. When World War II broke out, because of his jewish heritage, had to flee from Denmark to Sweden, where he was forbidden to work as an architect, becoming a textile artist instead. In addition to elegant geometric ornaments, Jacobsen created picturesque floral motifs that reflected his passion for botany. Today, the Swedish factory Boras Tapeter produces wallpaper based on some of the sketches created during the exile years. It was only after World War II that Arne Jacobsen decided to take up furniture design.

Many of Jacobsen's works have become classics, among which such iconic pieces as Drop, Egg and Swan chairs, as well as the Ant chair and the Giraffe chair can be mentioned. The famous chairs look like sculptures because they initially were created as such: Jacobsen sculpted numerous prototypes from clay, and only after the ideal shape was found, the Fritz Hansen factory recreated them from fiberglass-reinforced plastic.

Arne Jacobsen never limited himself only to the architecture of buildings: he considered his buildings as a single piece of art, indivisible into disparate components, in which the creator was responsible for everything: from small details in the interior decor to the materials with which the facades would be covered. He carefully chose textiles, designed furniture and lamps, as well as elaborated the decoration of walls, floors and ceilings. Highly prolific, Jacobsen received countless prizes and awards during his long-lasting career, both as a furniture designer and an architect. The buildings he constructed were included in Denmark’s national heritage list and in the Danish cultural canon. There is no surprise that the name of Jacobsen stands in the line with other iconic Danish makers, such as Georg Jensen and Henning Nørgaard. Many of Jacobsen’s ideas received a logical continuation in the design of IKEA products.

Jacobsen's remarkable inventions are still in incredible demand today: a typographic font specially designed by Jacobsen for signs in the municipality of Aarhus, is used by Danish studio ”Design Letters” to decorate tableware, bed linen and all kinds of interior items. In addition, Louis Poulsen now produces lamps, beautiful in their laconicism, under the name AJ. As for the unique silver-plated cutlery, that looks more like art objects than eating utensils, the original pieces are now a part of the collection of the New York Museum of Modern Art MoMA. The replica is produced by the Danish company Georg Jensen.

Nowadays splendid pieces designed by Jacobsen are in unprecedented demand and have not lost their relevance. Antique vintage models are especially popular at auctions: they keep the spirit of the era and are therefore of the greatest value.