POUL KJÆRHOLM (Denmark, 1929 - 1980) for FRITZ HANSEN. Coffee table, model PK-61. Glass top, steel frame. Manufactured by Fritz Hansen. With stamp in steel frame. Small signs of use, glass with minor scratches at the surface. Measurements: 33 x 80 x 80 cm. The PK61 coffee table is almost as elementary and minimalist as the style of Poul Kjærholm, its intellectual creator. Despite the extreme distillation of the structure into a set of identical elements, the square and aesthetic design shows Kjærholm's development from industrial designer to furniture architect. Poul Kjærholm was a Danish designer trained at the Danish School of Arts and Crafts in Copenhagen, where he entered in 1952 after beginning his apprenticeship with cabinetmaker Gronbech in 1948. Since the mid-fifties he worked for his friend EjvindKoldChristiansen, a businessman who always gave him total creative freedom. In his earliest creations, such as his PKO plywood furniture series, his strong personality is already evident. In 1958 he attracted international attention with his contribution to the "Formes Scandinaves" exhibition in Paris, and in the same year he won the Lunning Prize for his PK 22 chair. In 1957 and 1960 he was awarded the Grand Prix at the Milan Triennale, and in 1959 he was admitted to the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts. In 1973 he was appointed director of the Danish Design Institute, where he taught from 1976. Today his designs are held in leading design collections, including those of the Victoria & ALbert Museum in London and the MOMA in New York.