Designer
Viggo Boesen
Viggo Boesen (1907–1985) was a Danish designer and architect, born in Copenhagen. &Tradition places him among the Danish architects and designers of his generation, beside Finn Juhl, Flemming Lassen and Arne Jacobsen, while saying that he…
Biography
Background
Viggo Boesen (1907–1985) was a Danish designer and architect, born in Copenhagen. &Tradition places him among the Danish architects and designers of his generation, beside Finn Juhl, Flemming Lassen and Arne Jacobsen, while saying that he lived in relative seclusion.
Signature Style
His work reflected the Scandinavian funkis style of the 1930s, which &Tradition describes as a Nordic take on Art Deco with surprising forms and silhouettes. In contrast to mass-produced materials and the Bauhaus idea of less is more, &Tradition says, he brought a soft, warm and intuitive attitude to design, with organic shapes and an affinity for the natural world.
Notable Works
- Little Petra lounge chair (1938), first shown at the Copenhagen Cabinetmakers Guild Exhibition
- Little Petra VB2, a two-seat sofa on the same drawings
- Petra VB3, a lounge chair
Legacy
Only a few of his designs were produced, yet &Tradition calls his ideas precursors to the modernist stance that Denmark took in the following decades. His personal photographs from road trips of the 1950s are described as a portrait of his life.
Products
Little Petra VB1
Petite lounge chair of 1938 by Viggo Boesen, low to the ground and open
Little Petra VB2
Little Petra VB2, a two-seat sofa after Viggo Boesen's 1930s drawings, 150 cm wide, for &Tradition
Petra VB3
High-backed lounge chair after Viggo Boesen's 1938 design, in a larger form
