Stylish, delightful watercolors by Hans Wegner encompassing his myriad furniture designs
Hans Wegner’s sophisticated chair designs, paragons of the midcentury-modern style, are beloved and imitated the world over, but scant few are familiar with his masterly watercolors. Wegner often used the medium to finish and finalize the drawings made in his workshop. Although woodworking and watercolor were both increasingly considered traditional in the New Media Age, Wegner’s artistic temperament saw him use both these mediums to boundary-breaking effect in his search for the perfect chair. Watercolors by Hans J. Wegner showcases his watercolors in thematic chapters, delving into the artistic dimensions of his design studio. Beyond illustrations of some of his notable chair models, the featured watercolors also highlight his lighting fixtures and complete room designs. They are interpreted by Anne Blond, director of the future Wegner Museum in Denmark and author of Wegner’s biography on the centennial anniversary of his birth in 2014. Fans of Watercolors by Finn Juhl will love these beautiful and intricate illustrations by this beloved Danish designer. Known as the “King of Chairs,” Hans J. Wegner (1914–2007) designed over 500 different chairs during his life, of which more than 100 were mass-produced. From his first apprenticeship he showed a natural affinity for woodworking, and almost all his pieces were made from that material. In 1951 he received both the Lunning Prize and the Grand Prix of the Milan Triennale.
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No one did chairs better than midcentury Danish furniture designer Hans J. Wegner. That concept is pretty well established. But it turns out, very few industrial designers could render in the unforgiving medium of watercolor as finely as Wegner, either. Pictured here, from new release Watercolors by Hans J. Wegner, out now from Strandberg Publishing, are his designs for a chair and bench with armrests, submitted to the Museum of Modern Art’s International Competition for Low-Cost Furniture Design in 1948. “We have to move forward. We cannot say that we only want to work in the old materials. There might be something new to be gained,” Wegner is quoted from 1974. “He was not afraid to think innovatively, including in terms of materials,” author Anne Blond writes. “In his chair designs submitted for the [MoMA] competition, Wegner used molded plywood, a light, industrially processed and cheap material. Wegner’s MoMA chairs never went into production, but they did serve as the starting point for his later shell chairs, including the Tripartite Chair from 1949 and the even more famous Shell Chair from 1963.” continue to blog
FORMAT: Hbk, 9.5 x 10.75 in. / 192 pgs / 200 color. LIST PRICE: U.S. $60.00 LIST PRICE: CANADA $84 ISBN: 9788794102568 PUBLISHER: Strandberg Publishing AVAILABLE: 1/7/2025 DISTRIBUTION: D.A.P. RETAILER DISC: TRADE PUBLISHING STATUS: Active AVAILABILITY: In stock TERRITORY: NA ONLY
Published by Strandberg Publishing. Text by Anne Blond.
Stylish, delightful watercolors by Hans Wegner encompassing his myriad furniture designs
Hans Wegner’s sophisticated chair designs, paragons of the midcentury-modern style, are beloved and imitated the world over, but scant few are familiar with his masterly watercolors. Wegner often used the medium to finish and finalize the drawings made in his workshop. Although woodworking and watercolor were both increasingly considered traditional in the New Media Age, Wegner’s artistic temperament saw him use both these mediums to boundary-breaking effect in his search for the perfect chair.
Watercolors by Hans J. Wegner showcases his watercolors in thematic chapters, delving into the artistic dimensions of his design studio. Beyond illustrations of some of his notable chair models, the featured watercolors also highlight his lighting fixtures and complete room designs. They are interpreted by Anne Blond, director of the future Wegner Museum in Denmark and author of Wegner’s biography on the centennial anniversary of his birth in 2014. Fans of Watercolors by Finn Juhl will love these beautiful and intricate illustrations by this beloved Danish designer.
Known as the “King of Chairs,” Hans J. Wegner (1914–2007) designed over 500 different chairs during his life, of which more than 100 were mass-produced. From his first apprenticeship he showed a natural affinity for woodworking, and almost all his pieces were made from that material. In 1951 he received both the Lunning Prize and the Grand Prix of the Milan Triennale.
