Georg Jensen
GEORG JENSEN
Born in 1866, the son of a knife grinder in the town of Raadvad just to the north of Copenhagen. Jensen began his training in goldsmithing at the age of 14 in Copenhagen. His apprenticeship, with the firm Guldsmet Andersen, ended in 1884 and this freed young Georg to follow his artistic interests.
From childhood, Jensen had longed to be a sculptor and he now pursued this course of study at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts. He graduated in 1892 and began exhibiting his work. Although his is clay sculpture was well received, making a living as a fine artist proved difficult and he turned his hand to the applied arts. First as a modeller at the Bing & Grondahl porcelain factory and, beginning in 1898, with a small pottery workshop he founded in partnership with Christian Petersen. Again the work was well received, but sales were not strong enough to support Jensen, by this point a widower, and his two small sons.
In 1901, he abandoned ceramics and began again as a silversmith and designer with the master, Mogens Ballin. This led Jensen to make a landmark decision, when in 1904, he risked what small capital he had and opened his own little silversmithy at 36 Bredegade in Copenhagen.
Jensen's training in metalsmithing along with his education in the fine arts allowed him to combine the two disciplines and revivify the tradition of the artist craftsman. Soon, the beauty and fine quality of his Art Nouveau creations caught the eye of the public and his success was assured. The Copenhagen quarters were greatly expanded and before the close of the 1920's, Jensen had opened retail outlets as far ranging as New York, London, Paris, Stockholm, Berlin and Buenos Aires.
Georg Jensen died in 1935, but in the preceding years he imbued the firm with his strongly held ideals concerning both artistry in design and excellence in craftmanship, this tradition has been adhered to throughout the 20th century. Although Jensen himself was a proponent of the Art Nouveau style, he had the wisdom and foresight to allow his designers their own freedom of expression which expanded the stylistic scope of what the firm produced and allowed it to keep step with time.
From Georg Jensen homepage:
With a history that spans more than 100 years, the Georg Jensen brand represents quality craftsmanship and timeless aesthetic design, producing lifestyle products ranging from hollowware to watches, jewellery and home products.
The philosophy of Georg Jensen himself was to create democratic designs possessing both functionality and beauty. His artisanal skill and artistic talent combined with his continuous ability to identify and support design talent was the foundation on which he built Georg Jensen in Copenhagen in 1904.
Georg Jensen’s style embraced the Art Nouveau lines of the day but injected them with a distinctive vigour that continues to resonate today. Serene flowing forms are enriched by exquisitely sculpted ornamentation and his stylised bouquets of flowers and lush bunches of grapes reflect his sensual delight in nature. Our most important task is to leverage the ideas and principles of the master himself and translate these into the design of the present day.
The Georg Jensen brand is based on a number of shared values such as integrity, authenticity and Danish design. All resonating the Danish values - the simplicity of life, the Nordic light, clean water and fresh air – and all capsulised in the Georg Jensen Vision, Mission and Values. Respecting our DNA and our values it is both our obligation and our opportunity to run a profitable business providing products relevant to the consumer of today.
Shop vintage Georg Jensen jewelry: https://tniklassongallery.com/search?q=georg+jensen
