Jens Risom exhibition, London

(Image credit: press)

last updated 14 October 2022

Very few designers have two large-scale exhibitions, in consecutive years, in the same city. But Jens Risom is more than just a run of the mill designer. At the age of 92 he’s in peculiar situation of witnessing his own revival - a fitting final chapter to a life that’s witnessed and been responsible for some of the greatest developments in contemporary design.

Click here to see a selection of the designer’s finest work

Last year, London’s Rocket Gallery hosted a comprehensive exhibition of Risom’s furniture. So inspired were we, all over again, by the man and his output as an expression of the finest mid-century American modernist design that we leapt at the chance to profile him as a living icon of design for our interiors special (W*109).

Click here to see pictures of our trip to Risom’s Connecticut home

Barely months later and Liberty is now hosting an exhibition of Risom’s designs. And, not to be outdone by the London Gallery scene, we recently took a trip to Risom’s Connecticut home to chat about design, sample his wife’s delicious cooking and enjoy the comfort of his exquisite furniture in the most appropriate setting.

Risom’s living room
Risom’s Connecticut home is host to a number of classic Scandinavian designs including here Verner Panton and Arne Jacobsen, as well as many of his own.

The living room with modernist furnishing — The living room features perfect modernist furnishing

Room full of Artifacts and ephemera — Artifacts and ephemera fill the house

Books and boxes in the room — Books and boxes tell the story of his long career as a designer

Risom's home office is still very much in use

Image of Risom's desk — Risom's desk shows the designer at 92 is still very much at work

A cornflower blue pendant lights — A cornflower blue Poul Henningsen pendant lights his desk

Image of the gold R — The gold R is an original sign from Jens Risom Design

Image of humorous memorabilia — Objects of inspiration and humorous memorabilia

Image of Risoms' art collection — A selection from the Risoms' art collection

Photo of Henny Risom — Henny Risom puts on a beautiful spread

Image of Exquisite cutlery, crockery and tableware — Exquisite cutlery, crockery and tableware

Exquisite cutlery, crockery and tableware

Photo of Jens and his wife Henny in the garden of their home — Jens and his wife Henny in the garden of their home

Yellow chair wooden chair — 1171 chair, 1969

Blue wooden armchair — C 160 armchair, 1957

Brown wooden armchair — C 140 armchair, 1950

Grey wooden side chair — C 275 side chair

Black and white side tables — T 710 side tables (stack of three), 1948

Blue end table with shelf — T 490 end table with shelf, 1950

Wooden table with shelf — T 421 table, 1955

Wooden magazine table — T 539 magazine table, 1950

Wooden low table with magazine rack — T 390 low table with magazine rack, 1950

Image of wooden sideboard — S 440 sideboard, 1948

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Rosa Bertoli was born in Udine, Italy, and now lives in London. Since 2014, she has been the Design Editor of Wallpaper*, where she oversees design content for the print and online editions, as well as special editorial projects. Through her role at Wallpaper*, she has written extensively about all areas of design. Rosa has been speaker and moderator for various design talks and conferences including London Craft Week, Maison & Objet, The Italian Cultural Institute (London), Clippings, Zaha Hadid Design, Kartell and Frieze Art Fair. Rosa has been on judging panels for the Chart Architecture Award, the Dutch Design Awards and the DesignGuild Marks. She has written for numerous English and Italian language publications, and worked as a content and communication consultant for fashion and design brands.

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