Finn Juhl: Life, Work, World

“One cannot create happiness with beautiful objects, but one can spoil quite a lot of happiness with bad ones.” ―Finn Juhl

“Art is art, and a chair is a chair”―for the architect and furniture designer Finn Juhl, there were no gray areas. Yet Juhl’s designs often strike a delicate balance between the fine and applied arts. As one of the leading figures in the “golden age” of Danish furniture design―amplified by his commissions and collaborations in the United States―Juhl was instrumental in drawing attention to the aesthetics and craftsmanship of the Danish chair.
Life, Work, World tells Finn Juhl’s story from the breakthrough of modernism around 1930 through the heights of cabinet-maker’s furniture in the 1940s and 1950s, and up to the reemergence of his near-forgotten masterpieces in the 1990s, their sublime execution admired afresh. Originally published by Strandberg in 2018 then reissued by Phaidon the following year, this expanded edition includes more pages and over 400 illustrations. The new “Selected Presentations” section spotlights Juhl’s most iconic designs, including his Chieftain Chair and Baker Sofa.
Finn Juhl (1912–89) studied architecture under Kay Fisker at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts. After working for Vilhelm Lauritzen’s firm for 10 years, he established his own studio in 1945. In 1951 he was featured in the Good Design exhibition in Chicago, and completed the Trusteeship Council Chamber at the Headquarters of the United Nations in New York.