Illum Wikkelso is one of the highly talented designers responsible for making Danish furniture world famous during the mid-20th century.
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Illum Wikkelsø (1919-1999) was a Danish cabinetmaker and designer. Very little is written about him. He studied at the Copenhagen School of Arts and Crafts with contemporaries such as Hans Wegner. Upon graduation, he worked for cabinet maker Jacob Kjaer. Later he went to work for the firm of Peter Hvidt and Orla Molgaard-Nielson. He opened his own design studio at a two-century old farm near Århus in 1954.
Wikkelsø believed that furniture should be solid and durable but should also delight the eye while embracing the body. His work is characterized by simplicity but often has surprise elements. His wife, Marianne, said that Wikkelsø never sat straight in a chair, he thought you should be able to sit in a chair in different ways and still sit comfortably "his legs were always hanging over the armrest!".
Wikkelsø designed for several of Denmark's finest furniture makers, such as C.F. Christensen, N. Eilersen, Holger Christiansen, Komfort/Dansk Form, Søren Willadsen Møbelfabrik, Hjørring Møbelfabrik. His designs received a number of prestigious awards.
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"My basic principle as an architect is that a chair must embrace the human body smoothly and tenderly" and should also "satisfy the eye and be solid and lasting".