Arne Hovmand-Olsen

Arne Hovmand-Olsen had the world in mind, both before and after the 1950s, when he became one of Denmark’s renowned furniture desigers. The son of a farmer and an aesthete by nature, he started as an apprentice cabinetmaker, before studying furniture design and pursuing his passion for visual composition and furniture design. In 1944, Arne Hovmand-Olsen opened his own design practice, where he united the details of classic craftsmanship with innovative, modern design. 

Hovmand-Olsen’s designs span seating, tables, and secretaries, all of which are characteristically simple in form with clean lines, organic curves, and tapered legs. Like many of his Danish contemporaries, he favored the use of high-quality, beautifully grained woods like teak and rosewood. Notable designs include his Model 175 Chair (1955)—which is often mistaken for N.O. Møller’s Model 77 Chair due to their similar forms—and the Model 240 Lounge Chair for Mogens Kold (1958).

Hovmand-Olsen worked steadily designing furniture for companies such as Alf Juul Rasmussen, A. R. Klingenberg & Søn, Bramin, Elven Geertsen, J.L. Møller, Jutex, Mogens Kold Møbelfabrik, P. Mikklesen, Pedersen & Knap, and Skovmand & Andersen. Sometime in the 1970s, he was forced to close his studio due to illness.

Hovmand-Olsen passed away in 1989.