Kjærholm was born in 1929 in Østra Vrå, Denmark, and raised by ultratraditional parents who, according to hife wife, Hanne, apprenticed him to a cabinetmaker because he refused to give up painting. “An artist! That was the worst thing their child could be doing,” Hanne says.
His apprenticeship not only included coffin building but also placing the bodies in their new homes, after which the irrepressible artist painted pictures of the deceased.
As a result of a childhood infection, one of Kjærholm’s legs was shorter than the other, resulting in a limp. “He could have been helped by a special shoe, but he wouldn’t do it,” Hanne recalls.
In 1949, Kjærholm enrolled in Copenhagen’s School of Arts and Crafts, where he studied with furniture designer Hans Wegner.
Kjærholm was influenced by Gerrit Rietveld, whose furniture used simple forms and structural elements to shape and defer to space, and Mies van der Rohe, for his use of steel and commitment to refining and perfecting essential furniture typologies.
From 1953 through 1979, Kjærholm held various teaching positions, first at the School of Arts and Crafts, then at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts School of Architecture.
In 1955, Kjærholm partnered with furniture dealer E. Kold Christensen, who assembled a team of artisans to produce individual components, and encouraged the designer’s interest in assembly, as it enabled the work to be shipped in pieces. They remained in business until Kjærholm’s death in 1980.
Between 1953 and 1980, Kjærholm also designed some 25 exhibitions—characterized by the use of photomurals, simple architectural elements, and plants—that showcased his own work, Denmark’s applied arts, and modern photography.
In 1965, Kjærholm was selected to design furniture for Washington’s Kennedy Center. Though his designs weren’t used, the commission rekindled his interest in wood; Kjærholm’s wood furnishings during the 1970s included theater seats for the Louisiana Museum’s concert hall.
Despite his famous seriousness, Kjærholm “was very free and fun,” says Hanne. “He had a great sense of humor.”
