Mobilia no. 38
September 1958
Grete Jalk, Svend Erik Møller, Jesper Høm [Editors]
Gunnar Bratvold [Publisher], Grete Jalk, Svend Erik Møller, Jesper Høm [Editors]: Mobilia no. 38. Snekkersten, Denmark: Mobilia, Volume XXIV, September 1958. Original edition. Text in Danish and English. Perfect bound and side stapled wrappers. 62 [xxxvi] pp. Multiple paper stocks. Fully illustrated articles in black and white and 8 pages of color photography and period furniture advertisements. Wrappers light worn but a very good or better copy.
10.25 x 10.18 magazine with 62 pages of articles and 36 pages of period furniture advertisements. This issue is devoted to the opening of the Louisiana Museum at Humblebæk, and features short essays by Knud Jensen, Asger Schmelling, Svend Erik Møller, and Vilhelm Wohlert and Jørgen Bo. The editors described their magazine thus: “Mobilia is an international subscription periodical for furniture, art, handicraft, etc. Mobilia is published in two issues, one of them in Danish and English, and the other one in Swedish and German, the text having been translated as a whole. Mobilia is issued to all members of Møbelfabrikantforeningen i Danmark [The Association of Danish Furniture manufacturers], of Møbelhandlernes Centralforening i Danmark [The Association of Furniture Dealers in Denmark], and of Indendørs Arkitekt Foreningen [The Association of Interior Architects]; in Sweden a collective subscription has been taken by Sveriges Möbelindustriförbund [The Association of Swedish Furniture Manufacturers]. “
Contents include:
- Louisiana, Museum at Humblebæk
The Louisiana Museum of Modern Art is an art museum located directly on the shore of the Øresund Sound in Humlebæk, north of Copenhagen. It is the most visited art museum in Denmark with an extensive permanent collection of modern and contemporary art, dating from World War II, as well as a comprehensive programme of special exhibitions. The museum is also acknowledged as a milestone in modern Danish architecture, noted for the synthesis it creates of art, architecture, and landscape. The name of the museum derives from the first owner of the property, Alexander Brun, who named the villa after his three wives, all named Louise. The museum was created in 1958 by Knud W. Jensen, the owner at the time. He contacted architects Vilhelm Wohlert and Jørgen Bo who spent a few months walking around the property before deciding how a new construction would best fit into the landscape. This study resulted in the first version of the museum consisting of three buildings connected by glass corridors. It has a wide range of modern art paintings, sculptures and videos dating from World War II up to now, including works by artists such as Roy Lichtenstein, Andy Warhol, Anselm Kiefer, Alberto Giacometti, Pablo Picasso, Yves Klein, Robert Rauschenberg, David Hockney and Asger Jorn. Perched above the sea, there is a sculpture garden between the museum's two wings with works by artists including Henry Moore, Alexander Calder, and Jean Arp. The grounds around the museum contain a landscaped sculpture garden. It is made up by a plateau and the sloping terrain towards Øresund and is dominated by huge, ancient specimen trees and sweeping vistas of the sea. It contains works by such artists as Jean Arp, Max Ernst, Max Bill, Alexander Calder, Henri Laurens, Louise Bourgeois, Joan Miró and Henry Moore. The sculptures are either placed so that they can be viewed from within, in special sculpture yards or independently around the gardens, forming a synthesis with the lawns, the trees and the sea. [Wikipedia] Features work by Robert Jacobsen, Larsen Stevns, Adam Fischer, Ole Wanscher, Poul Bjørklund, Børge Mogensen, Jeppe Vontilius, Chr. Poulsen, Erik Thommesen, Vilhelm Lundstrøm, Søren Georg Jensen, Agnete Petersen, Vilhelm Wohlert, Gunnar Westman, Knud Agger, Astrid Noack, Finn Juhl, Poul Kjærholm, Richard Mortensen, William Scharff, Jørgen Haugen Sørensen, Kaare Klint, and more.
Includes advertising work by L. F. Foght, Grethe Meyer & Børge Mogensen, A/S Mogens Kold, Hovmand-Olsen, Søborg Møbelfabrik, France & Son, Finn Juhl, Dammand & Rasmussen, Fredericia Stole, N. Johnsson, Rastad & Relling, Bahus, Rud. Rasmussens Snedkerier, Kaare Klint, Den Blaa Fabrik, Anton Borg & Arne Vodder, Slagelse Møbelværk, AB Emmaboda Møbelfabrik, Yngve Ekström, Ib Kofod Larsen, Ilmari Tapiovaara, Edsby Verken, Nanna & Jorgen Ditzel, AP Stolen, Hans J. Wegner, Carl Hansen & Søn, Ry Møbler A/S, Getama, Gemla Fabrikers, Poul M. Volther, Naestved Møbelfabrik, A. Bender Madsen, Hans Olsen, N. A. Jørgensens Møbelfabrik, Kurt Østervig, M. H. Krause, Fritz Hansens, Arne Jacobsen, K. E. Ekselius, J. O. Carlsson, and more.
In 1954 the four Scandinavian countries, Denmark, Sweden, Norway and Finland arranged what proved to be the most important marketing effort ever for Scandinavian design—the monumental exhibition Design in Scandinavia. From 1954 to 1957 Design in Scandinavia toured the United States and Canada. The exhibition was presented in 27 cities, and it was a huge success, initiated by The Danish Society of Arts and Crafts and its sister organizations in the other participating countries.
Based on the success the four countries established what they called the Scandinavian Design Cavalcade, which had a lot of US press coverage as well. In that connection the July 1959 issue of House Beautiful was centered around The Scandinavian Look in U.S. Homes, and it was Denmark and Danish Design in particular that the magazine focussed on. Besides the editorial pages, the numerous ads illustrates that Danish modern furniture was increasingly gaining a stronghold among certain groups of American consumers.
Importers and retail chains like John Stuart Inc., George Tanier, Raynor and Dunbar etc. now sold Danish modern furniture in the US, and by now it was not only hand crafted furniture from the Copenhagen Cabinetmakers’ Guild Exhibitions but also pieces from industrial furniture producers like Fritz Hansen, Søborg Møbelfabrik, Fredericia Furniture and many others. From the end of the 1950s Danish Department stores and other retailers produced comprehensive brochures and booklets in English with prices in US Dollars presenting Danish Design to American and other tourists.
Without exception, these stores all presented the narrative of Danish modern. “Denmark is known all over the world for its exquisite home furnishing, which are characterized by their outstanding design and superb craftsmanship” the department store Magasin claimed in its brochure “Danish Design.”