Ole Wanscher (16 September 1903 – 27 December 1985) was a

Danish Danish may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark People * A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark * Culture of Denmark * Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish ance ...

furniture designer. He was one of the leading figures in the

Scandinavian Design Scandinavian design is a design movement characterized by simplicity, minimalism and functionality that emerged in the early 20th century, and subsequently flourished in the 1950s throughout the five Nordic countries: Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sw ...

movement (a part of Mid-Century Modernism), at a time when Scandinavian Design achieved worldwide popularity.

Early life and education

Wanscher was born on 16 September 1903 in Frederiksberg,

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...

, the son of art historian Vilhelm Wanscher (1875-1961) and painter Laura K. Baagøe Zeuthen (1877-1974). He studied at the Danish School of Art and Design, and was particularly influenced by Prof.

Kaare Klint Kaare Klint (15 December 1888 – 28 March 1954) was a Danish architect and furniture designer, known as the father of modern Danish furniture design. Style was epitomized by clean, pure lines, use of the best materials of his time and super ...

Design career

After completing his studies, Wanscher worked with Klint from 1924 to 1927, at which time he set up his own office, specializing in furniture design. Throughout the 1930s and 1940s, Wanscher, working with master joiner A. J. Iversen, produced dozens of designs that are now seen as modern classics. In the 1950s, Wanscher left his private firm and began an association with P. Jeppesens Møbelfabrik A/S that would last for the rest of his professional life. Like his mentor Kaare Klint, Wanscher was influenced by a variety of sources, from 18th century British design through the furniture design of Ancient Egypt. One of Wanscher's most famous pieces was his so-called "Egyptian Stool" of 1960. He was also influenced by Greek and Chinese design. While many of Wanscher best known designs were built with master joiner A.J. Iversen, Wanscher also showed a particular interest in the

mass production Mass production, also known as flow production or continuous production, is the production of substantial amounts of standardized products in a constant flow, including and especially on assembly lines. Together with job production and batch ...

of furniture, and several of his pieces were designed with mass production in mind. One of Wanscher's best known designs is the

teak Teak (''Tectona grandis'') is a tropical hardwood tree species in the family Lamiaceae. It is a large, deciduous tree that occurs in mixed hardwood forests. ''Tectona grandis'' has small, fragrant white flowers arranged in dense clusters (panicl ...

easy chair The following is a partial list of chairs with descriptions, with internal or external cross-references about most of the chairs. For other chair-like types (like bench, stool), see 0-9 * 10 Downing Street Guard Chairs, two antique chairs used ...

designed for France & Son in 1951.

Academia

Upon the death of Kaare Klint in 1955, Wanscher replaced Klint as professor at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, a post he held until his retirement in 1973. Taking a cue from his father, an

art historian Art history is the study of aesthetic objects and visual expression in historical and stylistic context. Traditionally, the discipline of art history emphasized painting, drawing, sculpture, architecture, ceramics and decorative arts; yet today ...

, Wanscher published several histories of furniture design during his time at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, including ''The History of the Art of Furniture'' and ''Five Thousand Years of Furniture''.

Reputation

Wanscher's work has remained popular with furniture collectors. It has been called "delicate", "elegant", and "orderly". In 2003,

Vance Trimble Vance Henry Trimble (July 6, 1913 – June 16, 2021) was an American journalist. He won a Pulitzer Prize for national reporting in recognition of his exposé of nepotism and payroll abuse in the U.S. Congress. Trimble worked in the newspaper busi ...

, a furniture dealer and collector, staged a retrospective of Wanscher's work in New York City, which was well received.

Personal life

Wanscher married twice. His first wife was Hilda Dorothea Pestalozzi (2 March 1906 - 9 July1992(, a daughter of consul Wilhelm Pestalozzi (1861) and Ellen Nicoline Karberg (1871-1944). They married on 22 September 1932 but they were divorced in 1954. His second wife was architect Edith Weinreich (27 March 1918 - 15 January 1990), a daughter of director and later alderman of the Wood Carvers' Guild Gustav Weinreich (1886-1980) and Hertha Jørgensen (1885-1956). They were married on 29 March 1967 at

Søllerød Town Hall Søllerød Town Hall ( da, Søllerød Rådhus), now renamed Rudersdal Town Hall, was built for the former Søllerød Municipality which in 2007 became part of Rudersdal Municipality, combining Søllerød and Birkerød. The building is located in ...

. He designed his own house at Gotfred Rodes Vej 5 in Charlottenlund in 1933. It was altered in 1943 and again in 1965.

References

External links

Roberta Smith, "ART IN REVIEW; Ole Wanscher -- 'Danish Modern Master Furniture'", ''The New York Times'', Oct. 3, 2003

Source
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wanscher, Ole Danish furniture designers 1903 births 1985 deaths Academic staff of the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts Danish modern Designers from Copenhagen People from Frederiksberg