Verner Panton. Bachelor Chair for Fritz Hansen

VERNER PANTON (Denmark, 1926 - 1998) for Fritz Hansen.
Bachelor" chair, Denmark, 1950s.
Tubular steel frame.
Measurements: 37 x 52 x 63 cm.

The "Bachelor" chair is known to be Verner Panton's first success. It was an original work by Fritz Hansen designed and created in 1953. The chair was marketed to businesses and was known as the "Bachelor" chair because it was intended for households just starting out. Both the design and construction of the chair are quite simple. It consists of a folding seat and a tubular steel frame. Its "demountable" design and simple construction made it a viable product for export. Two intermediate struts connect the N-shaped side segment to the main section. Since its creation in 1953, this simple chair has become a design icon, inspiring architects and designers around the world.

Verner Panton was one of the most influential Danish industrial designers of the late 20th century. He introduced the pop aesthetic into Scandinavian furniture. He attended the Odense Technical School and then studied architecture at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Copenhagen. Between 1950 and 1952 he worked in the architectural studio of Arne Jacobsen. In 1955 he opened his own architecture and design studio. He became famous with his furniture based on geometric forms manufactured by the company Plus-linje. Panton's spatial compositions are renowned for fusing floors, walls and ceilings, as well as furniture, lamps, fabrics and enamel or plastic panels to form a spatial unity that is as seamless as it is indivisible. The Visiona halls at the Cologne Furniture Fair (1968 and 1970), the offices of the Spiegel publishing house (1969) and the Varna restaurant in Aarhus (1970) are some of the most outstanding examples. The collaboration between Panton and Vitra began in the early 1960s. With this company he develops his best-known design: the Panton chair, made from a single piece of injection molded plastic, introduced in 1967. It is represented in the MOMA and major museums of decorative art and design.