Banana Shaped Modernist Burgundia Pottery Dish by Svend Aage Holm-sorensen for Soholm, 1950s

Danish designer Svend Aage Holm Sørensen (1913-2004) is known for his self-produced lighting designs dating from the 1950s, ‘60s and ‘70s. Despite the desirability of his designs on the vintage market, there is a lack of biographical information on the designer and his eponymous manufacturing company.

It is speculated that Holm Sørensen designed lights for well-known Danish lighting manufacturers Fog & Mørup and Lyfa in the 1950s, before establishing his own lighting company, Holm Sørensen A/S to produce and distribute his own designs.

Holm Sørensen’s style varies greatly, with designs from the 1950s truly reflecting the mid-century modern lighting  style, with clear influences from the De Stijl and Bauhaus movements. His attenuated floor and table lamps contain the classic tri-pod base that was popular at the time, referencing such designs as H. Th. J. A. Busquet’s Pinocchio Lamp (1954).

From the 1960s onwards, Holm Sørensen’s style changed utterly. His designs diverged from colorful, geometric table lamps and floor lamps, to pendants with unfinished brass and copper surfaces. These pendant lamps showcase Holm Sørensen’s interpretation of the Brutalist style, which was popular from the 1950s to the mid-70s. Originally coined by the Swedish architect Hans Asplund, the style  was internationally espoused by many iconic designers, including Le Corbusier.

Although there is a dearth of information available on the designer himself, many of Svend AAge Holm Sørensen’s designs supply a robust market for his modernist and brutalist designs which are sought by vintage lovers in Denmark and around the world.

As is the case for many Scandinavian designers from the mid-century period, little biographical information on Danish designer Svend Åge Madsen has survived. What is known has been gleaned from vintage dealers working with limited archival materials, like sales catalogues. Outside of Nordic countries, the designer’s name is often written "Svend Aage Madsen”. While some rare designs date from the late 1950s, the overwhelming majority of Madsen’s furniture was designed in the 1960s.

Madsen’s creations epitomize the Danish modern style: he favoured warm teak and rosewood, organic silhouettes, and minimal decorative details. More specific features of his work include “boomerang” legs; sloped, arching desk drawers; and “floating” desk tops.

A number of Madsen’s  desks  were produced by Danish manufacturers H.P Hansen and Sigurd Hansen. Madsen also designed  dining tables  and sideboards  for K. Knudsen & Son; nesting tables  for Karl Lindegaard; credenzas  for Allesø Møbelfabrik; bedside tables  and sideboards for Falster Møbelfabrik; and dressing tables  for NB Møbelfabrik.