The Danish architect and designer Børge Mogensen began his career as a carpenter before applying and being accepted to the School of Arts and Crafts in Copenhagen to study furniture design. During school, he worked for the architect Mogens Koch (1889–1992) before entering the Royal Academy of Fine Arts’ School of Architecture in 1938. There, he became a disciple of the architect Kaare Klint (1888–1954), whose mentorship of Mogensen included a thorough indoctrination into the importance of functionalism and the simplification of furniture design. Mogensen took Klint’s lessons on simple construction, material usage, clean lines, and ergonomics (through scientific measurements of the body) seriously. These principals, as well as his belief in creating furniture for the general public, would guide him throughout his storied career.

 

In 1939 Mogensen made his debut as a furniture designer at the annual Cabinetmakers’ Guild Exhibition in Copenhagen. Established in 1927, the exhibition was the premier venue for Danish furniture designers to show their latest work in an effort to educate the public and inspire fellow designers. The annual event ran until 1966, with Mogensen regularly exhibiting modern designs for mass-production as well as experimental designs.¹ He worked with the noted Danish cabinetmaker Erhard Rasmussen on the prototypes for the exhibitions.

 

Mogensen’s Hunting Chair was designed for the 1950 Cabinetmakers’ Guild Exhibition. His exhibit revolved around the theme of furniture for a hunting cabin and also included a related dining set, bookshelves, and side tables.² The rustic room was wood-paneled and had a sisal-like carpet covering half of the constructed floor. All of the furniture was made from oak, and the seating pieces featured deep-brown leather.

 

The Hunting Chair was a departure for Mogensen. Although he had designed lounge or easy chairs with wide seats previously, none had been so low and angled to the ground. Mogensen configured the Hunting Chair for comfort, with the pitch of the seat and seat back inviting relaxation. The shaped, oversized armrests provided further distinctive lines. Adjustable buckles kept the leather back and seat taut, while cutouts in the leather ensured airflow and delivered visual interest. The chair, which drew praise at the exhibition, was made for a few years by Rasmussen, and then the Danish firm Fredericia Stolefabrik took over production about 1955.³

 

In the 1951 Cabinetmakers’ Guild Exhibition, Mogensen presented updated versions of the hunting furniture, including a dining chair with a straight back and rectilinear form. In 1955 and 1958, respectively, he returned yet again to the vocabulary of the Hunting Chair. The low, angled profile and deep seat of his Easy Chair (1955) were similar to the Hunting Chair, yet it had a woven seat and back as well as leather strap arms and back supports. The later Spanish Chair (1958) was a wider version of the 1951 dining chair. These designs demonstrate the enduring influence of the Hunting Chair’s experimental form and material usage on Mogensen’s late career. —Cindi Strauss