Finn Juhl

Finn Juhl

Finn Juhl, born in Denmark in 1912, was a pioneering force in his own country. Juhl is credited along with fellow Danes Arne Jacobsen, Hans Wegner, and Poul Kjaerholm for introducing Danish modern design to mid-century America.

He began designing furniture like the 1941 Poet Sofa for use in his own home, north of Copenhagen. Juhl felt that furniture, handicraft and art should create a “completeness” of the home, which in his case was decorated with works of the Danish painters of the time.

Juhl made his American debut in 1951 at the "Good Design" exhibit in Chicago and at MoMA in New York, and he represented Denmark in creating the interior of a meeting hall at the United Nations Headquarters.

In 1998 Finn Juhl’s widow, Hanne Wilhelm Hansen, asked the Danish company, Onecollection, to help her make one of Finn Juhl’s sofas – Model 57, designed in 1957. Hanne Wilhelm Hansen wanted to have a single unit of the sofa produced for an exhibition that she wanted to arrange in honour of Juhl who had passed away in 1989. This was a fantastic challenge and this was the beginning of a new chapter in Onecollection’s history. This initial request has led to Onecollection producing many of Finn Juhl’s designs and they have exclusive rights worldwide. In 2013, Onecollection manufactured all new furniture for the Finn Juhl Chamber at the UN Headquarters in New York.