Lost Danish Treasures: Finn Juhl Book Talk with Carl D’Silva

Join us for a book talk with award-winning Chicago architect Carl J. D’Silva on his new book Lost Danish Treasure (Oro Editions, 2024), exploring Danish modernist Finn Juhl’s iconic Chieftan Chair and the mystery behind a long-lost design artifact.

Growing up, almost every kid dreams of finding buried treasure. That dream slowly fades with age as they realize that Blackbeard never visited their backyard. For some, the search for treasure continues in their adult lives in other ways. Metal detectors and shovels may be replaced with online searches and library visits, but the thrill of the hunt is still alive, ever driving the quest forward. Lost Danish Treasure tells the tale of two stories: 1) the history of Finn Juhl’s iconic Chieftain Chair and a long-forgotten painting that preceded it, and 2) the individual connections to this design by a small group of collector researchers. Although starting in different eras and timelines, the two accounts start to intertwine over the course of the book, with the research efforts of today helping to unravel the mysteries of the past. As each chapter unfolds, more and more clues are revealed that slowly weave the storylines closer together—until the summer of 2021, when both accounts collided after Lot 242 popped up in an auction house in Chicago. The result of the subsequent analysis sheds new light about the origins and identity of the very first Chieftain Chair.

This program is co-presented with Scandinavia House and the Consulate General of Denmark in New York.