Thank's, @leif-ericson, that's what I'm getting at, there is a possibility that they are two different people.
@kyle-barrett wrote: "And as someone who's posted here reliably over the years I think for most of us, we didn't feel the need to question Oliver."
Dear Kyle, it's always a risk of believing someone unchecked, just because he has posted a lot of correct information before. Everyone can be mistaken.
Okay, so the designer known in catalogs as H. Kjærnulf (and wrongly known on the internet as Henning Kjærnulf) was born Henry Kjærulff Rasmussen and worked as an architect as H. (for Henry) Kjærnulf. That is one person he designed for Bruno Hansen amongst others. Now was there another person who designed using the name Kjærulff Rasmussen? Possible.
That chair on the Index came from literature in 1945 when Henry was working as an architect on his own so it seems likely he is the designer and had not changed his name yet.
Or it could be that it is related to someone else in his family and he came from a cabinetmaker family and cabinetmakers designed things. We have two evidences this is unlikely. His father was not a Kjærulff Rasmussen just Rasmussen. The chair was made by Jydsk Trævarefabrik and wherever it is, it is in Jutland, not Fyn, where Odense is, where the family lived and cabinetmakers designed for themselves.
So perhaps it is another Kjærulff Rasmussen entirely. Possible. Or perhaps the Index is wrong as it often is. Possible.
My guess based on the evidence we have is that it is a piece of Henry’s work and the only people who would have any knowledge or documentation at this point in time are the people that @herringbone found. And we may never have anything more than when likelihood gives us because history is not preserved. Even major figures like Finn Juhl have had extremely important parts of their history forgotten or intentionally misremembered.
How common a name is Kjærulff Rasmussen in Denmark? I ask because I noticed there are a few people who come up when you search it, and wonder if they might be descendants. For example, Sidsel Kjærulff Rasmussen is a director of publishing for Strandberg Publishing, which publishes art and design books, including this Finn Juhl Book. Maybe Herringbone has already reached out to her?
Sorry that I'm a little late in the topic, especially since it is after all here about me too. I have just unfortunately a lot to do and can not check in daily. @fredhh - I completely understand your skepticism and you can continue to be skeptical about my research. But Kyle said it right, the number of characters on Instagram is limited, I can't cite all sources for every piece of information or I won't get there with one post per person, and I really don't want to make a series out of every designer I write about.
The fact that Henry Kjaerulff Rasmussen and Henry Kjeaernulf are one and the same person is quite easy to prove based on two things. The first: furniture architects were mostly self-employed entrepreneurs. As such they were listed in the Danish telephone directories, they even had their own section there. In Stenlose, where Henry Kjaernulf lived until the end of his life, a furniture architect named Kjaerulff Rasmussen is listed under the telephone number 833 until 1955. (See first picture from the 1954 phone book). In 1956, the same number listed an H. Kjaernulf (see second picture), which is then mentioned for the first time in this section. Kjaerulff Rasmussen, on the other hand, never appears again from that year on. The second is the year of birth. The tombstone that @mark737 posted shows the same birth date as the Census records show for Henry Kjaerulff Rasmussen. In addition, the name Kjaernulf is extremely rare in Denmark. I have found only four or five people bearing it. This is an indication that there is only one family (which unfortunately is not easy to contact), and that the name was "invented" in the 1950s. This was quite common, the Danish government even encouraged citizens to choose new names that made them more distinguishable. Whether Henry Kjaernulf's designs justify the work I have put into evaluating these records is up to anybody to decide. My bottom line was simply to answer the question for myself and others interested: Who was H. Kjaernulf? The name Henning was invented by someone, there is no Henning Kjaernulf and in official documents there is no Henning Kjaernulf recorded anywhere.
"People buy a chair, and they don't really care who designed it." (Arne Jacobsen)
@kyle-barrett The name Kjaerulff Rasmussen is far more common than the name Kjaernulf. Usually, if you find more than 50 people with the name, which is the case with Kjaerulff Rasmussen I think, the chance is pretty low that you find a relative by just trying. I reached out to some, but with no luck. It's certainly different with Kjaernulf. I know that Henry had a son and a daughter. At least his daughter is still alive, I tried to contact her in several ways but she didn't get back.
"People buy a chair, and they don't really care who designed it." (Arne Jacobsen)
The attribution of these chairs to Jensen/Kjaerulff seems to be one of the countless fairy tales on the web.
When you look at the rustic designs by Jensen/Kjaerulff, it's hard to believe that they should have designed these chairs.
Are these chairs marked somewhere, do they have a stamp?
And who the hell is Richard Jensen?
Richard Jensen was Kjaerulffs business partner in the late 40s. They shared an office. Phonebook from 1949:
"People buy a chair, and they don't really care who designed it." (Arne Jacobsen)
Aha, a "serious researcher", who works without reference sources and publishes on Instagram. Very interesting.
There is no reason to feel insulted, my dear, I only doubt attributions, if you can not take it, then you obviously have a problem. Relax and have a nice sunday.
Here's an entry from one of his census records. Birthdate: 22.8.1911
And now go check the tombstone that was posted earlier.
"People buy a chair, and they don't really care who designed it." (Arne Jacobsen)
Interesting that he is called in the censuses Henry "Kjærulff" Rasmussen, and not Kjærnulf, it's not a typo, his whole family is called that.
The question must be allowed, if Henry "Kjærulff" Rasmussen and Henning Kjærnulf really are the same person, to change his first name from Henry to Henning, okay, but why to change his family name from Kjærulff to Kjærnulf, that is curious.
And the question remains why he's not listed as famous designer in the Ubberud and Odense archives.
And what means this?
http://www.artnet.de/k%C3%BCnstler/richard-jensen-and-kjaerulff-rasmussen/
https://www.mutualart.com/Artist/Richard-Jensen-and-Kjaerulff-Rasmussen/99B8E1106BC2969B
He probably isn't mentioned because he wasn't very famous and also the people in Ubberud, Odense or Stenlose didn't think he was. You also don't think he was. Remember? You called him "an irrelevant third-class designer", which may be no lie. He just did what quite many people did back in the day: drawing furniture for the industry. The Danes didn’t consider him an artist. He was more like an industrial designer in a slab factory who decided wheter the slabs for the pavement were to be square or rectangular. Just not very exiting. I certainly don't want to bore you with entries from phone books (although they are valuable sources of information) but just to give you an idea I'll list all the names of furniture architects you could find in the 1949 edition of Krak apart from Kjaerulff Rassmussen and Richard Jensen:
H.P. Bauers, Sv. Bjerre, Th. Christensen, Wm. Christophersen, A Clausen, Aage Hansen, M. Hirsch, V. Kirk-Nielsen, Peter Lucht, Knud Nielsen, Victor Norden, N. Redder, Margr. Silversleth, P. Utzon, Wm Watting, AC Rostgaard, Carl R Pedersen, Illum Wikkelsoe, H. Clausen, Ove Werner Gjerding, N Jeppesen, E Bach, Frants Mortensen, Ejler Nielsen.
They all played in the same league. They were furniture architects, not house architects. Hardly any of them studied at the Royal Academy and none of them has ever been considered to be famous by any standards. Not even Illum Wikkelsoe.
And you said yourself that Kjaernulfs designs were nothing special. So what is the fuss all about?
"People buy a chair, and they don't really care who designed it." (Arne Jacobsen)
@herringbone For sure you are right if you say "so what is the fuss all about".
But now we got worked up over that topic, so let's continue, but please don't misunderstand me, I do appreciate your work of research, but I found a disaccord regarding the entry as "Rasmussen Kjærulff" in the 1954 phone book and the fact, that a certain "Architect Kjærnulf was asked in 1951 to make drawings for stage construction, changing rooms etc" for the community hall of Stenløse. See the link at page 7
http://www.sk-dilettant.dk/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/Skrifter1998-forsamlingshuset.pdf
I am not sure that is really such a huge problem that in 1951 Henry was already going by Kjærnulf but the phone book still had him listed as Rasmussen Kjærulff. We don’t know exactly when Henry formalized the change of name and we don’t know how long it took for private businesses like the phone directory to catch up with changes, but by 1955 they had.
To take a similar example with Finn Juhl, Carl Brørup was informally exporting at wholesale starting in 1951 apparently using the unofficial name Bo-Ex (at least according to the Bo-Ex website and certainly CB pieces were showing up outside Denmark that early, in fact the BO59 was offered at Georg Jensen in New York City as early as 1950). The name Bo-Ex was not made official as a business registered with the government until 1959. I have not checked the phone books, but I would not be surprised if they are not exactly synced with any of these dates, because that is how things happen.
We have very solid evidence in this thread now that in 1945 Henry was using Kjærulff Rasmussen and associated with Rich Jensen, so that chair is at least half his design too.
Thank's, @leif-ericson, that's what I'm getting at, there is a possibility that they are two different people.
@kyle-barrett wrote: "And as someone who's posted here reliably over the years I think for most of us, we didn't feel the need to question Oliver."
Dear Kyle, it's always a risk of believing someone unchecked, just because he has posted a lot of correct information before. Everyone can be mistaken.
It goes without saying. I just hope you are equally dogmatic about every piece of information you hear, dear Fred.
Dear @kyle-barrett, I was brought up in such a way that I fundamentally question everything if the slightest doubt allows it.
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