Pair Hans Wegner JH-513 Chair for Johannes Hansen

Condition: Frame made of solid teak. Newly upholstered in cognac-colored full-aniline leather. Description Hans J. Wegner was a Danish furniture designer, architect, and university lecturer. Wegner was one of the most creative and prolific minds of Danish Modernism. Many of his approximately 500 chair designs are considered iconic masterpieces today. He began his professional career at the age of fourteen with an apprenticeship as a cabinetmaker, which he completed in 1931. Subsequently, he studied at the School of Arts and Crafts in Copenhagen, where he later also taught. After collaborating with Arne Jacobsen and Børge Mogensen, the young Wegner opened his own studio in 1943. From then on, he designed chairs with near-obsessive dedication. He developed a unique symbiosis of exquisite aesthetics and perfect craftsmanship. The style of his often sculptural works is known today as Organic Modernism. Even John F. Kennedy found his favorite chair among Wegner's designs: Wegner’s Model #503 was selected as the seating for the candidates during the first televised US presidential debate between John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon. For Kennedy, who suffered from chronic back pain, Wegner’s minimalist design offered perfect support. The piece became Kennedy’s favorite chair and consequently bears the unofficial title "The Chair" (or the "Kennedy Chair") today. The elegant JH-513 armchair offered here is a design dating from 1963. Hans J. Wegner died in Copenhagen in 2007. His magnificent legacy is showcased today in leading design museums worldwide; a museum dedicated exclusively to the chairs of the "Master of the Chair" was even established in Japan.