Rigmor Andersen (11 December 1903,

Aarhus Aarhus (, , ; officially spelled Århus from 1948 until 1 January 2011) is the second-largest city in Denmark and the seat of Aarhus Municipality. It is located on the eastern shore of Jutland in the Kattegat sea and approximately northwest ...

- 10 March 1995,

Søllerød Søllerød is a suburban district of Rudersdal Municipality in the northern outskirts of Copenhagen, Denmark. The original village, one of the oldest in the area, is perched on Søllerød Hill on the south side of Søllerød Lake. It merged with ...

) was a versatile Danish designer, educator and author. Above all she is remembered for maintaining the traditions of

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 ...

's furniture school at the

Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts The Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts ( da, Det Kongelige Danske Kunstakademi - Billedkunst Skolerne) has provided education in the arts for more than 250 years, playing its part in the development of the art of Denmark. History The Royal Dani ...

Early life

The daughter of journalist Hans Emil Andersen, Rigmor Andersen was born in

Jutland Jutland ( da, Jylland ; german: Jütland ; ang, Ēota land ), known anciently as the Cimbric or Cimbrian Peninsula ( la, Cimbricus Chersonesus; da, den Kimbriske Halvø, links=no or ; german: Kimbrische Halbinsel, links=no), is a peninsula of ...

. After matriculating from Rysensteen Gymnasium in 1922 and a one-year drawing course at the technical school, she was admitted to the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts where she studied under

at his newly founded Furniture School. She was impressed by his analytical teaching method and his interest in functional solutions. Towards the end of her studies, she worked for the designer

Poul Henningsen Poul Henningsen (9 September 1894 – 31 January 1967) was a Danish author, critic, architect, and designer. In Denmark, where he often is referred to simply as PH, he was one of the leading figures of the cultural life of Denmark between the Worl ...

(1927–29), contributing to designs which culminated in his classical PH Lamps.Søren Sass, "Rigmor Andersen (1903 - 1995)"
''Dansk Kvindebiografisk Leksikon''. Retrieved 15 November 2011.

Career

From 1929 to 1939, Andersen worked in Klint's studio, becoming one of his most trusted colleagues. Thanks to her competent, self-assured approach, she was soon an indispensable contributor to many of the studio's projects. In 1931, she was assigned her first independent task, designing furniture for Kvinderegensen, a women's student residence on Amager Boulevard in Copenhagen. The building's architect, Helge Bojsen-Møller, was reluctant to allow a young lady to handle the assignment but Andersen, appreciating the nature of the task, created a series of simple, almost timeless pieces of furniture and carefully developed plans for the different rooms: the assembly hall, the library and 56 bedrooms. The furniture for the communal rooms was in mahogany with leather upholstery, that for the students' rooms in beech. The bedrooms were fitted out with a bed, desk, bookcase, two chairs (one with arms) and a stool. The assignment led to her collaborating with several furniture makers, as she produced items which were frequently exhibited at the Cabinetmakers Guild's annual fairs. Among her exhibits were a bedroom in elm and mahogany as well as chairs, desks and some 50 semicircular tables with flaps in African mahogany. In 1966, she was responsible for designing the graphics room at Maribo Museum and, in 1980, she exhibited a bureau at ''Den Permanente'', a design exhibition for craftsmen and producers. Her work also includes an elegantly shaped, beautifully detailed silverware cabinet from 1936 which was exhibited at the

Swedish National Museum Nationalmuseum (or National Museum of Fine Arts) is the national gallery of Sweden, located on the peninsula Blasieholmen in central Stockholm. The museum's operations stretches far beyond the borders of Blasieholmen, the nationalmuseum manage ...

Stockholm Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...

in 1942. In 1948, a copy was made for the

Danish Design Museum The Designmuseum Denmark () is a museum in Copenhagen for Danish and international design and crafts. It features works of famous Danish designers like Arne Jacobsen, Jacob Jensen and Kaare Klint, who was one of the two architects who remodeled ...

in Copenhagen. Her work was also exhibited at home and abroad: at the Danish Art Treasures presentation in London (1948), at

Charlottenborg Spring Exhibition The Charlottenborg Spring Exhibition (''Charlottenborg Forårsudstilling'') is an annual art exhibition in Copenhagen, Denmark. The event is held at the Charlottenborg Exhibition Building (''Kunsthal Charlottenborg''). Kunsthal Charlottenborg ...

in Copenhagen (1968), and at Malmö Museum in Sweden (1971).

Collaborative work

In addition to her design work, in 1948 Andersen entered a competition with sculptor Inge Finsen for memorials for resistance workers and for the accidental bombing of the French School. The same year the two completed a remembrance wall at Copenhagen's Domus Medica for physicians who lost their lives in the fight for freedom during the

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. In 1962, she collaborated with the designer Annelise Bjørner, creating an elegant bed with an unusual seating feature. Together they also designed a woman's bedroom in Oregon pine and mahogany and entered various furniture and silverware competitions. In 1967, they designed cutlery, including an elegant storage cabinet, as the National Bank's wedding gift for

Queen Margrethe II Margrethe II (; Margrethe Alexandrine Þórhildur Ingrid, born 16 April 1940) is Queen of Denmark. Having reigned as Denmark's monarch for over 50 years, she is Europe's longest-serving current head of state and the world's only incumbent femal ...

and

Prince Henrik Prince Henrik of Denmark (; born Henri Marie Jean André de Laborde de Monpezat; 11 June 1934 – 13 February 2018) was the husband of Margrethe II of Denmark. He served as her royal consort from Margrethe's accession on 14 January 1972 unt ...

. It was later marketed as ''Margrethebestikket'' (Margrethe Cutlery). They also designed furniture for both domestic and foreign manufacturers. In 1968, Annelise Bjørner and Rigmor Andersen were together awarded the

Eckersberg Medal The Eckersberg Medal (originally the ''Akademiets Aarsmedaille'' or Annual Academy Medal) is an annual award of the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts. It is named after Christoffer Wilhelm Eckersberg, known as the father of Danish painting. The Ec ...

for the Margrethe Pattern."The Georg Jensen Designers"
''Jensensilver.com''. Retrieved 15 November 2011.

Teaching

For almost 30 years, from 1944 to 1973, Andersen taught at the Royal Academy's Furniture School where she did her utmost to maintain Klint's traditions and approach. She enthusiastically collected and catalogued materials and sketches, gave talks and, in 1979, published her well-prepared work: ''Kaare Klint møbler'' (Kaare Klint Furniture).

References

Literature