Poul Henningsen for Louis Poulsen & co.

POUL HENNINGSEN (Denmark, 1894 - 1967) for LOUIS POULSEN & CO.
Ceiling lamp "Artichoke". Design from the 1950s.
Steel.
Preserves label inside.
Presents some wear.
Measurements: 62 x 58 x 58 cm.
When architects Eva and Kick Koppel asked Poul Henningsen to design the lighting for a lively restaurant in Copenhagen's Langelinie waterfront park in 1958, Henningsen revisited a radical design he had abandoned more than 30 years earlier; a ceiling lamp that looked like an upside-down artichoke. For more than half a century, Poul Henningsen's Artichoke lamp has been one of the world's most popular design objects, as evidenced by the fact that it is still made by Danish manufacturer Louis Poulsen and is in major public and private collections internationally, including MoMA. Vitra and the V&A.
Poul Henningsen began his prolific career in lamp design in the early 20th century . In 1924, after 10 years of scientific study, he began working with Louis Poulsen on his unique system of shades that were intended to provide a soft, warm, non-dazzling light.
The original Koglen shades were developed for the Langelinie Pavilion restaurant in Copenhagen. The PH Artichoke is a classic icon of 20th century Scandinavian design.
Danish designer, architect and critic, Poul Henningsen was one of the key figures in Danish cultural life in the interwar period. He studied architecture between 1911 and 1917, but never graduated, as he decided to become an inventor and painter. Nevertheless, he worked as an architect and became one of the most prominent advocates of functionalism. In his career as a designer, his most famous creation was the "PH Artichoke" lamp, a simple lamp that used hallmarks of light to avoid glare and create an aesthetic effect of great beauty. Its success enabled Henningsen to finance his later work. He is currently representing at the Danish Museum of Art and Design, the MoMA in New York and the Victoria & Albert in London, among many others.