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Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Verner Panton

Verner Panton
Verner Panton (1926-1998) was born to innkeeper parents in the small Danish town of Gantofte. Early in life he decided that he wanted to be an artist, though he showed no particular talent for painting or drawing.

He attended the technical college in Odense during World War II and was part of the resistance to the German occupation. He spent several months in hiding after weapons were found in his room.

After completing his studies at the technical college in 1947, he moved to Copenhagen to enroll in the Royal Academy of Art as an architecture student, where he met and became friends with Poul Henningsen, who introduced him to product design. In 1950 he married Henningsen's stepdaughter, but the marriage was short-lived.

From 1950-1952 he worked on several projects with Arne Jacobsen, including the Ant Chair, saying he learned more from Jacobsen than anyone else. In 1955 Fritz Hansen began production of the Bachelor Chair and the Tivoli Chair, but it was the Cone Chair in 1959 that brought Panton recognition. He had originally designed the chair for his parents' new restaurant, but a Danish businessman saw it and put it into production.

In 1962 Panton met Marianne Pherson-Oertenheim, whom he married two years later. She proved to be the love of his life, and the two lived happily together till his death 36 years later. They had one daughter named Carin.

In the early 1960s Panton began collaborating with Vitra, the European licensee of Herman Miller, who produced the Flying Chair and the Panton Chair, which was the first cantilevered single-form molded plastic chair and is probably the piece for which Panton is best known. The chair has a long history, as Panton first began experimenting with the chair in 1956. By 1959 he had constructed a full-scale model of the design, and in the early 60s he contacted Vitra about producing it. However, it wasn't until 1967 that the chair was finally introduced to the public.

After the Viet Nam war, Panton's lighthearted designs fell out of vogue. However, in the early 1990s, Vitra put the Panton Chair back into production, and in 1994 IKEA produced the Vilbert Chair, and the Panton revival took off. In 1998 Panton was invited to design the Verner Panton: Light and Colour exhibition in Denmark, and he died 12 days before it opened. Panton will be best remembered for his highly innovative and sometimes futuristic designs, his use of plastic and his use of vibrant color.

Enjoy some Panton designs in red for Valentine's Day. <3

From danish-furniture.com and designmuseum.org

Bachelor Chair, 1955
ledesign.fr
Cone Chair, 1958
danish-furniture.com
Cone Stool
dailyicon.net
Heart Chair, 1959
danish-furniture.com
Panton Chair, designed 1959/produced 1967
bonluxat.com
Panton textiles on wall and floor; Panton light fixture
yatzer.com

11 comments:

  1. Wow! Check out that mug! That is a good lookin' man. I totally dig his beard! Mine kinda looks like that...well, when I clean it up and shave myself. But since I don't smoke I could never look that cool.

    In other news, I just saw an early production Cone Chair on Antiques Road Show recently. It's always cool to see Vintage Modern on Antiques Road Show (PBS).

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    1. Yep, ol' Verner was a pretty nice looking guy. He had a beautiful wife too.

      I didn't see that episode of Antiques Roadshow. How long ago was it?

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    2. It was on just about two weeks ago...but I don't have any idea if it was a new episode or if it was a re-run. You know...funny story...I saw the episode that featured the Bertoia "Spray" sculpure a long time ago...before I knew what a Bertoia chair was. Anyway, so I kinda knew about the "Spray" and I'm poking around eBay completed listings for prices on Jere stuff when I happen across a "Spray" listed as a possible Jere but no mention of Berdoia! It didn't sell for like a couple hundred bucks! I contacted the seller to see if they would re-list it but they never did. Arrggg...say, that wasn't funny at all!

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    3. Don't you just love it when a seller wises up to what he has right before you make the purchase of the century! LOL

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  2. Thanks for the valentines treat!

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    1. Gah! I didn't even get that! I'm such a guy. Sad for the Girlfriend, huh. Lucky me that she's so tolerant...and not all that "girly" about such things too!

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    2. Pippa, you're very welcome. The Heart chair just begged to be done on Valentine's Day. Hope you're having a sweet one!

      Mr. Mod, you and about 99.9% of all the men I've met in my lifetime...LOL If the truth were told, I think most would say that Valentine's Day is a "girly" holiday. That said, most of the men in my life have been very good at taking hints, so I've received more than my share of great Valentine's loot over the years!

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    3. "Loot"...hehe...I guess "booty" just wasn't the right word! ;)

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    4. I actually started to type that...but thought better of it. After all, this is a family show...hahaha

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  3. Thank you so much for this. I learned so much and love the pictures you shared.

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    1. So glad you liked the post. I always enjoy your blog too!

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