Tage Frid (30 May 1915 – 4 May 2004) was a
Danish
Danish may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark
People
* A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark
* Culture of Denmark
* Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish ance ...
-born
woodworker
Woodworking is the skill of making items from wood, and includes cabinet making (cabinetry and furniture), wood carving, joinery, carpentry, and woodturning.
History
Along with stone, clay and animal parts, wood was one of the first mate ...
, educator and author who influenced the development of the
studio furniture movement in the United States. His design work was often in the
Danish-modern style, best known for his three legged stool and his publications.
Early life
Son of a
silversmith
A silversmith is a metalworker who crafts objects from silver. The terms ''silversmith'' and ''goldsmith'' are not exactly synonyms as the techniques, training, history, and guilds are or were largely the same but the end product may vary gre ...
, at the age of 13, he started a five-year
apprenticeship
Apprenticeship is a system for training a new generation of practitioners of a trade or profession with on-the-job training and often some accompanying study (classroom work and reading). Apprenticeships can also enable practitioners to gain a ...
in
Copenhagen
Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...
followed by work in cabinet shops; worked for nearly a decade at the Royal Danish Cabinetmakers,
then spent time in
Iceland
Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its ...
before immigrating to the United States in 1948 at the request of the
American Craft Council
The American Craft Council (ACC) is a national non-profit organization that champions craft based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Founded in 1943 by Aileen Osborn Webb, the council hosts national craft shows and conferences, publishes a quarterly maga ...
.
Later career
Frid headed the program in
woodworking
Woodworking is the skill of making items from wood, and includes cabinet making (cabinetry and furniture), wood carving, joinery, carpentry, and woodturning.
History
Along with stone, clay and animal parts, wood was one of the first mate ...
of the School for American Craftsmen (SAC) in
Alfred, New York
Alfred is a town in Allegany County, New York, United States. The population was 4,896 at the 2020 census.
The Town of Alfred has a village named Alfred in the center of the town.
Alfred University and Alfred State College are located in ...
; later moving with this program to
Rochester Institute of Technology
Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) is a private university, private research university in the town of Henrietta, New York, Henrietta in the Rochester, New York, metropolitan area. The university offers undergraduate and graduate degree ...
.
In 1962 he became professor of Woodworking and Furniture Design at the
Rhode Island School of Design (RISD), remaining until 1985.
When teaching, he emphasized a craftsman's need to learn all the available tools and methods one could use to complete a given task. Thus, the person can work in any shop situation and produce the same quality. Frid's students include noted American studio furniture makers such as
Hank Gilpin
Hank Gilpin is an American furniture maker and wood sculptor. He is known for using distinctive types of wood. His work is in the collection of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Having worked under Tage Frid
Tage Frid (30 May 1915 – 4 May 2 ...
,
Jere Osgood,
Alphonse Mattia,
,
John Dunnigan
John J. Dunnigan (September 6, 1883 – December 1965) was an American architect, builder and politician from New York. He was President pro tempore of the New York State Senate from 1933 to 1938.
Life
He was a Democratic member of the New York ...
, and
Rosanne Somerson
Rosanne Somerson (born June 21, 1954) is an American-born woodworker, furniture designer/maker, educator, and former President of Rhode Island School of Design (RISD). An artist connected with the early years of the Studio Furniture, her work an ...
.
He was an editor of
''Fine Woodworking'' magazine from its inception in 1975 to his death.
In 2001, Tage Frid was honored by
The Furniture Society
The Furniture Society, founded in 1996, is a membership-based, tax-exempt 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation working to advance the art of furniture making by inspiring creativity, promoting excellence and fostering understanding of this art. The Soc ...
with its
Award of Distinction
The Furniture Society, founded in 1996, is a membership-based, tax-exempt 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation working to advance the art of furniture making by inspiring creativity, promoting excellence and fostering understanding of this art. The Soc ...
. The Permanent collection of the
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
The Museum of Fine Arts (often abbreviated as MFA Boston or MFA) is an art museum in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the 20th-largest art museum in the world, measured by public gallery area. It contains 8,161 paintings and more than 450,000 works ...
owns some of his designs, most of which represent the Danish modern style.
Publications
Frid is best known for his three-volume work, "Tage Frid Teaches Woodworking". Some editions of which are published as the first two volumes in one, the third is still separate (Frid's own classic European-style workbench is detailed, in a revised and corrected version, in the third edition of this essential series):
*
*
*
Further reading
*
Hank Gilpin
Hank Gilpin is an American furniture maker and wood sculptor. He is known for using distinctive types of wood. His work is in the collection of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Having worked under Tage Frid
Tage Frid (30 May 1915 – 4 May 2 ...
, "Professor Frid,"
''Fine Woodworking'' magazine 146 (Winter 2000-1), pp. 80–85.
* John Kelsey, "Tage Frid: A Talk with the Old Master,"
''Fine Woodworking'' magazine 52 (May–June 1985), pp. 66–67.
* Michael A. Stone, ''Contemporary American Woodworkers'', Gibbs Smith, Salt Lake City UT, 1986, pp. 48–63.
* "Tage Frid" in Edward S. Cooke Jr., Gerald W.R. Ward, and Kelly H L'Ecuyer, ''The Maker's Hand: American Studio Furniture, 1940–1990'', Museum of Fine Arts, Boston MA, 2003, p. 120.
References
External links
Oral history interview with Tage Frid, from 1980 June 24 – 1982 February 22 Archives of American Art
The Archives of American Art is the largest collection of primary resources documenting the history of the visual arts in the United States. More than 20 million items of original material are housed in the Archives' research centers in Washing ...
, Smithsonian Institution
Furniture Society Award of Distinctionin the New York Times
{{DEFAULTSORT:Frid, Tage
1915 births
2004 deaths
American furniture designers
Rochester Institute of Technology faculty
Rhode Island School of Design faculty
American cabinetmakers
Danish furniture designers
Danish cabinetmakers
20th-century Danish woodworkers
Danish emigrants to the United States