As part of the sale "Design with a focus on Alvar Aalto" organised by PIASA on Thursday 28 May 2020, the auction house is offering collectors four pieces by Danish designer Poul Henningsen.
Nicknamed PH after his initials, Poul Henningsen, Danish writer and architect, was an emblematic figure in the cultural life of his country during the interwar period. Between 1911 and 1917, he trained as an architect without obtaining his diploma. The designer was mainly interested in one of the most important technological innovations of the 20th century: the electric lamp. He almost scientifically developed lamps with soft and comfortable lighting that are close to natural light.
He imagines a suspension with three shades. It is the first lamp of his "System PH" series that he will later produce in different models, either wall or floor lamps. He presented them in Paris in 1925 at the International Exhibition of Modern Decorative and Industrial Arts. They won the gold medal.
His PH lamps are encircled by several metal or glass lampshades acting as reflectors. Thus, the light source is masked regardless of the bridge of sight.
Poul Henningsen (1894-1967)
PH4/3
Estimation : 15000 / 20000 €
The model "PH4/3" is a table lamp made around 1927. Made of bronze and lacquered metal, this piece, offered for sale with an estimate of between 15,000 and 20,000 euros, offers a brilliant illustration of the aerial aesthetics of its author. A significant milestone in the history of Scandinavian design, Poul Henningsen's luminaries became, from the second half of the century onwards, a veritable icon of modernity.
The "Model PH2/2" suspension lamp, known as the Basket Chandelier, designed at the beginning of the 1930s, bears witness to a successful combination of metal - here brass - and opaline glass. Its low estimate is 7,000 euros.
Poul Henningsen (1894-1967)
Modèle PH2/2 dit Basket Chandelier
Estimation : 7000 / 9000 €
Parallel to his activities as a designer, Poul Henningsen has been pursuing a literary career since the mid-1920s. He edited the magazine Kritisk Revy ("Critical Review") through which he built a critique of the old style and conservatism in artistic creation. In Hvad med Kulturen? ("What about Culture?"), published in 1933, Poul Henningsen, as a companion of communism, establishes links between the arts and politics while contributing to antifascist thinking.
