OntwerperDanish
Johan Rohde
3 actieve items
Before Johan Rohde ever touched silver, he was a medical student in Randers who abandoned his studies to become a painter. Born in 1856, he trained privately under Wenzel Tornoe before entering the Royal Danish Academy in 1882. Dissatisfied with the institution's conservatism, he left within a year and continued at the Kunstnernes Studieskole under Laurits Tuxen and P.S. Kroyer.
In 1891, Rohde became the principal founder of Den Frie Udstilling, created to bypass the Academy's restrictive criteria. As a painter, Rohde developed a distinctive voice rooted in Symbolism. His quiet landscapes of West Jutland depicted canals, bridges, and vegetation in twilight tones, influenced by Japanese woodcuts and French Symbolists.
Rohde's transition to applied arts began when he started designing furniture and silver for his own home. In 1906, he brought clay models of flatware to Georg Jensen's workshop, sparking the silversmith's most consequential design collaboration. The Acorn pattern, known as Konge in Danish, was designed in 1915 and remains Georg Jensen's best-selling flatware of all time. The Scroll pattern followed in 1927. Beyond flatware, Rohde designed his celebrated pitcher no. 432, considered so radical it was not produced until 1925.
In 1934, the year before his death, Rohde received the Thorvaldsen Medal. He died in Hellerup on February 18, 1935.
On the Nordic auction market, over 100 items are tracked on Auctionist. Silver and metals dominate. Complete Acorn/Konge sterling sets command the highest prices, with an 87-piece service reaching 50,000 EUR. Bukowskis Malmo, Helsingborgs Auktionskammare, and Bruun Rasmussen are the most active sellers.