FURNITURE with MEANING. DANISH FURNITURE 1840-1920 a Two-Volume, 808-Pages Work on Outstanding Furniture from a Forgotten Age

PRESS RELEASE On 15 December 2009 the Danish Architectural Press releases: FURNITURE WITH MEANING. DANISH FURNITURE 1840-1920 A two-volume, 808-pages work on outstanding furniture from a forgotten age Author: Mirjam Gelfer-Jørgensen Fig. 1 Fig. 2 Fig. 3 Fig. 4 The book Furniture with Meaning addresses the furniture of on meaning and a far cry from stylistic confusion. the age of historicism, national romanticism and art nouveau. The era featured intense collaboration among formidable The “forgotten” furniture, one might say, as for generations cabinetmakers and talented furniture designers, many of many researchers and museums have thought it best to whom were also building architects: Nebelong, Dahlerup, ignore this period of so-called stylistic confusion. Furniture Kampmann, P.V. Jensen-Klint, Nyrop, and Rosen. But design- from the period of 1840 through 1920 – an entire era – was ers and craftspeople such as Frølich, Bindesbøll, Slott-Møller put into cold storage in the museums. Only in recent years and Rohde also created beautiful and unique pieces of fur- have design researchers and historians been able to break niture for the burgeoning middleclass. The art of furniture- through the barrage of good taste and delve into the melting making was thriving. pot of this neglected era. Mirjam Gelfer-Jørgensen’s two-volume work tells the story Furniture with meaning is written by one of Denmark’s most of a previously neglected section of our common cultural his- highly acknowledged art historians specialising in the history, which had a powerful impact on the entire 20th century. tory of art & craft and industrial art, D.Phil. Mirjam Gelfer- Therefore, the book also draws lines to current home design Jørgensen, former chief librarian at the library of the Danish and furniture. Museum of Art & Design. The book is written and structured as a reference book and The fruit of Mirjam Gelfer-Jørgensens research efforts is contains more than 700 illustrations, including new pho- now published in two lavishly illustrated volumes with many tographs, a wealth of beautiful drawings and informative previously unpublished interiors and furniture pieces. Many captions. original drawing are also published here for the first time. To ensure high-quality reproduction of the often very de- tailed drawings, the book is printed in a large format, so that In an international context, Danish furniture-making during every line is clear, and notes remain legible. this era was characterised by a high degree of artistic quality Møbler med mening is published in extension of Mirjam and craftsmanship. The furniture of the time laid the ground- Gelfer-Jørgensen’s major treatise on the preceding period: work for the international recognition that Danish furniture The Dream of a Golden Age – Danish Neo-Classical Furniture was later to gain. The book describes the development of 1790-1850. cabinetmaking and its importance for Danish furniture design as well as the international and modern perspective that Previously, Mirjam Gelfer-Jørgensen has authored Dansk characterised the period leading up to the 1920s with their Kunsthåndværk 1730-1850 (Danish Craft and Design 1730- functionalism and more puritanical outlook. 1850) and Dansk Kunsthåndværk 1850 til vor tid (Danish Craft and Design 1850 Until the Present Day), Herculanum paa Sjæl- The title of the book clearly states that every carving and land (Herculanum on Zealand), Toulouse Lautrec Posters and decoration, every profile and ornamentation springs from Danish Jewish Art – Jews in Danish Art. careful deliberation and creative ambition – the form is based Thorvald Bindesbøll,mirjam Design for bed of “Mahoganymirjam with inlays gelfer-jørgensen Originally for ten years an assistant professormirjam in the Department mirjam gelfer-jørgensen J.H. Nebelong, Section of wall in the fi rst class saloon on of pale wood”, pencil,gelfer- Indian ink and watercolour, 1895. of Art History in the University of Copenhagen,gelfer- Dr. Mirjam Gelfer- the steamship Hermod, pen and watercolour, undated [1845]. National Art and Design Library. Jørgensen has recently fi nished a long career as Chief Librarian National Art and Design Library. jørgensen jørgensen in the National Art and Design Library so as to be able to devote furniture herself to research in the history of decorative and applied art. furniture Danish Furniture Furniture Danish Danish Furniture Furniture Danish furniture furniture Her doctoral dissertation was entitled Medieval Islamic Sym- bolism and the Paintings in the Cefalù Cathedral (Leiden, 1986), in which the theoretical method is based on iconography, an approachwith with that has been a constant feature of her studies of fi ne and decorative art. She has written books on Danish decorative art, especially meaning Danish furniture, but was also responsible for Toulouse-Lautrec meaning Posters (Copenhagen, 1995) and Danish-Jewish Art – Jews in Dan- Danish Furniture ish Art (Copenhagen, 1999), which she edited and to which she Danish Furniture contributed several chapters. Mention can also be made of the 1840–1920 fact that she wrote the chapter on Islamic art in Konstens Världs- 1840–1920 historia, vol. 5: Utomeuropeisk konst, which she edited in collaboration with Professor Gregor Paulsson (Stockholm, 1982). with meaning with meaning furniture with meaning is the story of a virtually ignored part of VOLUME II 2004 saw the publication of The Dream of a Golden Age, VOLUME II design history, in which the improvement of cabinet-making acquiredDanish Neo-Classical Furniture 1790–1850 (Copenhagen, 2004) signifi cance for the development of Danish furniture. Danish furnitureand this is now succeeded by the present book on an almost entire- ly unexplored period of Danish furniture making. ?????????????? ! is seen against the background of the international trends of the time in In 1990, Mirjam Gelfer-Jørgensen founded the annual Scandinavian the fi elds of fi ne art, art theory, interior design and furniture designJournal and of Design History, 1991–2005, contributing to and publish- 1840–1920 1840–1920 cabinet-making. ing the 15 volumes that she edited. Prior to this, she had edited Hafnia, Copenhagen Papers in the History of Art (University of The Danish furniture of the period was not only of a high quality; behindCopenhagen, 1978–83), Virksomhed (Danish Museum of Decorative Art, 1985), Nordisk Funktionalisme, 1925–1950 (Nordisk Forum every carving and decoration, behind every contour and motif therefor wereFormgivningshistorie, 1986) and De kunstindustrielle museer careful considerations and creative ambitions – a meaning with theog form. den industrielle design (ibid., 1992). To the Danish national encyclopaedia, Danmarks Nationalleksikon, she contributed There was here an intensive collaboration between outstanding cabinet-numerous articles in addition to editing the areas relating to deco- makers and talented furniture designers, many of whom were architects:rative art, craft and design, Islamic art and Jewish art (1993–2002). She has, moreover, written articles in Danish and foreign perio- Theophilus Hansen, Vilhelm Dahlerup, Hack Kampmann, Martin Nyrop, dicals and catalogues. P.V. Jensen-Klint, Anton Rosen etc., but there were also artists, designers Mirjam Gelfer-Jørgensen was one of the three founders of the and craftsman-designers such as Lorenz Frølich, Harald Slott-Møller,Nordic Forum for Design History, which since 1985 arranges Thorvald Bindesbøll and Johan Rohde who created beautiful and distinc-conferences every second year. She was also one of the founders of the Danish Jewish Museum, where she supervised the registration tive furniture for their own homes and to the growing middle classes.of collections. At the same time, she took the initiative to establish Danish furniture design was fl ourishing! and maintain contact with the architect Daniel Libeskind, who built the museum. She took the initiative for a cataloguing of the extensive collection of furniture in the Royal Danish Theatre and I also for the cataloguing of furniture andII fi ttings in Copenhagen Town Hall 1997–2000. Mirjam Gelfer-Jørgensen has been a member of the Danish Researchisbn: 978 87Council 7407 4007 for the Humanities and is a member of the the danish the danish RoyalNarayana Danish indplacerer Academy of Sciences and Letters. architectural the danish architecturalthe press danish architectural press stregkod her, architectural the danish architectural press press på den tonede bund press FURNITURE WITH MEANING For additional information, please contact Danish Furniture 1840-1920 The Danish Architectural Press: Editor Martin Keiding, tel.: +45 32 83 69 56 2 volumes, 808 pages Lavishly illustrated Illustrations Danish and English text 1. Chair in gilded wood with springs in the seat, upholstered Format: 24 x 31 cm in silk damask. Made by C.B. Hansen and J.G. Lund’s furniture Author: Mirjam Gelfer-Jørgensen firms, circa 1865. Graphic design and layout: Carl-H.K. Zakrisson 2. Harald Slott-Møller, Cradle in pear wood with oil-paint Print: Narayana Press decorations, 1893-94. The Danish Museum of Art & Design Publisher: The Danish Architectural Press 3. Thorvald Bindesbøll, Mahogany chair with inlaid brass orna- Danish edition ISBN: 978 87 7407 3864 ments. Seat and back upholstered in fabric with appliqué and English edition ISBN: 978 87 7407 4007 silk embroidery. Exhibited at the World Fair in Paris in 1900. 4. Anton Rosen, Grand piano in wood with white paint and Price: DKK 756 / app. € 102 excl. VAT gilding made by Hornung

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