Finn Juhl

Finn Juhl (1912-1989)

Renowned for his furniture design, Danish Finn Juhl studied under Kay Fisker at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts for Architecture. After graduating Juhl worked at Vilhelm Lauritzen’s architectural firm for 10 years and received the C.F. Hansen prize for young architects.

In 1945 Juhl left Vilhelm Lauritzen to set up his own specialist interior and furniture design practice in Copenhagen. Not his first venture into furniture design, Juhl had previously exhibited at the Cabinet Makers’ Guild Exhibition making his furniture design debut showcasing his collaboration with cabinet designer Niels Vodder in 1937.

Creating organic shapes in order to bring a softer edge to wooden modernist chairs, Juhl’s designs stand out from the work of the Danish modernist movement in his choice of materials, with his preference for dark woods over oak which was often favoured by other designers in the movement.