POUL KJAERHOLM. Armchair. "PK 25". Designed in 1951. Probably made by Fritz Hansen, Denmark circa 1952. Matte steel and flag line.

Height: 73.5 cm, width: 69.5 cm, length: 74 cm, seat height: 26-40 cm.

Poul Kjærholm (1929–1980) was born in Østervrå and trained as a cabinetmaker in Hjørring. In 1949, Kjærholm was admitted to the Art Academy's Design School in Copenhagen. After three years of training, it was time for the final task. Teacher and furniture designer Hans J. Wegner tasked the students with drawing furniture for a well-known architect's living room, and then building a finished piece of furniture based on the drawings. A year earlier, in 1950, Wegner had designed the iconic "Flag Halyard" or "Snørestolen" in steel and flag line. Kjærholm was inspired by Wegner and chose to create a chair in the same material for architect Halldor Gunnløgsson's living room. The chair, built completely without soldering or joints, became Kjærholm's masterpiece, and later came to be called "PK 25".

With the chair, and the other furniture designed for Gunnløgsson, Kjærholm had his breakthrough. When Fritz Hansen CEO Søren Hansen saw the chair, he offered Kjærholm a job as a designer. At Fritz Hansen, the "PK 25" was put into very limited production in 1952. Shortly afterwards, Kjærholm left Fritz Hansen, and began the collaboration with E. Kold Christensen in 1955, who took over the manufacture of the chair and several other models. After Kjærholm's death in 1982, the rights to many Kjærholm models went to Fritz Hansen, including the "PK 25" model. Literature: Michael Sheridan, "The furniture of Poul Kjaerholm Catalog raisonné", Gregory R Miller & Co, New York (2007), p. 20–24.

Crafoord Auktioner Stockholm thanks Fritz Hansen A/S for valuable information when cataloging this item.