Product Gallery
Video
Credit: Carl Hansen & Søn
Hans J. Wegner
Denmark (1914–2007)
If Danish modernism is best known and beloved for the use of traditional techniques to emphasize materiality—graceful curves honoring the grain of fine walnut, for example—that’s thanks in large part to Hans J. Wegner. Born in southern Denmark, at 14 Wegner began an apprenticeship with Danish master cabinetmaker H. F. Stahlberg, where he honed a preternatural talent and learned skills he’d bring to bear throughout a career lasting some eighty years and full of design masterpieces.
While studying at the School of Arts and Crafts in Copenhagen, Wegner worked for Arne Jacobsen and Erik Møller on a range of furniture for the Aarhus City Hall. Four years after graduation, he had showcased a chair at the Copenhagen Museum of Art and Industry, and opened his own firm. Sculptural, surprisingly comfortable seating became Wegner’s trademark: for Fritz Hansen, the floating Chinese chairs; for Carl Hansen & Sons, he designed the instant classic Wishbone, Shell, and Elbow chairs; for PP Møbler, the cozy Papa Bear, iconic Round, and buoyant Circle chairs; and countless others, most still in production.
Wegner retired in 1993 and died fourteen years later, but his work lives on in its ubiquity across residential, hospitality, and corporate design—not to mention the Museum Sønderjylland’s permanent exhibition of the three dozen chairs he felt were his very best in a water tour in his hometown of Tønder.
More in Furniture
View All![Table-A-Plateau-Interchangable-Cassina](https://context-gallery.imgix.net/products/t/table-a-plateau-interchangeable/Table-A-Plateau-Interchangable-Cassina.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=clip&q=60&w=1274&s=f267c53e0682b998c607a2b149f62d01 1274w, https://context-gallery.imgix.net/products/t/table-a-plateau-interchangeable/Table-A-Plateau-Interchangable-Cassina.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=clip&q=60&w=1000&s=99c4e10f5658c1f92b3e0c0c9e408d07 1000w, https://context-gallery.imgix.net/products/t/table-a-plateau-interchangeable/Table-A-Plateau-Interchangable-Cassina.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=clip&q=60&w=600&s=803a75a888015c9bed6bc3c16a18b7d7 600w, https://context-gallery.imgix.net/products/t/table-a-plateau-interchangeable/Table-A-Plateau-Interchangable-Cassina.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=clip&q=60&w=300&s=74d053965815b22353227d4f9cbbe1e6 300w)
by Charlotte Perriand
for Cassina
Table a Plateau Interchangeable
![Shift Table Jorre Van Ast Arco 1](https://context-gallery.imgix.net/products/s/shift-table/Shift-Table-Jorre-Van-Ast-Arco-1.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=clip&q=60&w=1565&s=9d8338993c96767a9b380af91960d408 1565w, https://context-gallery.imgix.net/products/s/shift-table/Shift-Table-Jorre-Van-Ast-Arco-1.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=clip&q=60&w=1000&s=3126e2397a1d6ebbc4a59edbbe73d679 1000w, https://context-gallery.imgix.net/products/s/shift-table/Shift-Table-Jorre-Van-Ast-Arco-1.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=clip&q=60&w=600&s=d454b2a259fa2dc0f55176b573994dd9 600w, https://context-gallery.imgix.net/products/s/shift-table/Shift-Table-Jorre-Van-Ast-Arco-1.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=clip&q=60&w=300&s=cb46bfefa11ea8ea7a9d77586368a37f 300w)
by Jorre Van Ast
for Arco
Shift Table
![Surface-storageunits-bbitalia-10](https://context-gallery.imgix.net/products/s/surface-storage-system/Surface-storageunits-bbitalia-10.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=clip&q=60&w=855&s=7d848e93811b4eb473a18890e2912a89 855w, https://context-gallery.imgix.net/products/s/surface-storage-system/Surface-storageunits-bbitalia-10.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=clip&q=60&w=600&s=8e1cc6d68b553ecea7e6df8afe9de50d 600w, https://context-gallery.imgix.net/products/s/surface-storage-system/Surface-storageunits-bbitalia-10.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=clip&q=60&w=300&s=3dc35ccac75ca945f76db90683219776 300w)
by Vincent Van Duysen
for B&B Italia
Surface Storage System
More in Hans J. Wegner
View All![CH825 Credenza Hans J Wegner Carl Hansen 4](https://context-gallery.imgix.net/products/c/ch825-credenza/CH825-Credenza-Hans-J-Wegner-Carl-Hansen-4.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=clip&q=60&w=1067&s=23441dca1c420b6be790bea1e00e6c7e 1067w, https://context-gallery.imgix.net/products/c/ch825-credenza/CH825-Credenza-Hans-J-Wegner-Carl-Hansen-4.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=clip&q=60&w=1000&s=948398c5939238936e90f9bd5e02a414 1000w, https://context-gallery.imgix.net/products/c/ch825-credenza/CH825-Credenza-Hans-J-Wegner-Carl-Hansen-4.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=clip&q=60&w=600&s=6bee1c529add858d985b9f60b7da0e62 600w, https://context-gallery.imgix.net/products/c/ch825-credenza/CH825-Credenza-Hans-J-Wegner-Carl-Hansen-4.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=clip&q=60&w=300&s=09ff5b0dc2c38937af2c8e9364344e73 300w)
by Hans J. Wegner
for Carl Hansen & Søn
CH825 Credenza
![CH20 Elbow Chair Hans Wegner Carl Hansen Sons 9](https://context-gallery.imgix.net/products/c/ch20-elbow-chair/CH20-Elbow-Chair-Hans-Wegner-Carl-Hansen-Sons-9.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=clip&q=60&w=1565&s=8eab6ee3e9f8026ed0e1910184375111 1565w, https://context-gallery.imgix.net/products/c/ch20-elbow-chair/CH20-Elbow-Chair-Hans-Wegner-Carl-Hansen-Sons-9.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=clip&q=60&w=1000&s=760cbe44f9cee86acdcf76878de6886e 1000w, https://context-gallery.imgix.net/products/c/ch20-elbow-chair/CH20-Elbow-Chair-Hans-Wegner-Carl-Hansen-Sons-9.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=clip&q=60&w=600&s=9c9fb517a8195134d821253bd2816fc5 600w, https://context-gallery.imgix.net/products/c/ch20-elbow-chair/CH20-Elbow-Chair-Hans-Wegner-Carl-Hansen-Sons-9.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=clip&q=60&w=300&s=b5b26dd9d7b2515c8b41726dc9a98335 300w)
by Hans J. Wegner
for Carl Hansen & Søn
CH20 Elbow Chair
![Wishbone Chair Oak Black Carl Hansen 2](https://context-gallery.imgix.net/products/c/ch24-wishbone-chair-black-oak/Wishbone-Chair-Oak-Black-CarlHansen-2_2023-02-02-203704_hiso.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=clip&q=60&w=1460&s=37b634268f004c9d9ebccf6ed5bb6794 1460w, https://context-gallery.imgix.net/products/c/ch24-wishbone-chair-black-oak/Wishbone-Chair-Oak-Black-CarlHansen-2_2023-02-02-203704_hiso.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=clip&q=60&w=1000&s=4af878eddfc180688d6f565436e32305 1000w, https://context-gallery.imgix.net/products/c/ch24-wishbone-chair-black-oak/Wishbone-Chair-Oak-Black-CarlHansen-2_2023-02-02-203704_hiso.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=clip&q=60&w=600&s=8e8cae911a5808e66a03ddf76b8771ad 600w, https://context-gallery.imgix.net/products/c/ch24-wishbone-chair-black-oak/Wishbone-Chair-Oak-Black-CarlHansen-2_2023-02-02-203704_hiso.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=clip&q=60&w=300&s=f13801530d256c859efb4342849315dc 300w)
by Hans J. Wegner
for Carl Hansen & Søn