Tage Frid (30 May 1915 – 4 May 2004) was a Danish-born woodworker, 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, at the age of 13, he started a five-year

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followed by work in cabinet shops; worked for nearly a decade at the Royal Danish Cabinetmakers, then spent time in

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before immigrating to the United States in 1948 at the request of the American Craft Council.

Later career

Frid headed the program in

woodworking Woodworking is the skill of making items from wood, and includes cabinetry, furniture making, wood carving, joinery, carpentry, and woodturning. History Along with stone, clay and animal parts, wood was one of the first materials worked b ...

of the School for American Craftsmen (SAC) in

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; later moving with this program to

Rochester Institute of Technology The Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) is a private university, private research university in Henrietta, New York, a suburb of Rochester, New York, Rochester. It was founded in 1829. It is one of only two institute of technology, institut ...

. 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, Jere Osgood, Alphonse Mattia, William Keyser, John Dunnigan, and Rosanne Somerson. 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 with its Award of Distinction. 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 list of largest art museums, 20th-largest art museum in the world, measured by public gallery area. It contains 8,161 painting ...

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): * * *

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 Distinction

in 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

Early life

Later career

Publications

Further reading

References

External links