The maverick Panton, who studied architecture and engineering in Odense in the 1950's, devoted his career to producing highly original, exuberant furniture, objects and interiors. His work, which sometimes bordered on the bizarre, always demonstrated a boundless creativity, and stood in stark contrast to the staid, understated idiom of Danish Modernism as practiced by his contemporaries.

After completing his studies at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, he worked briefly for Arne Jacobsen. Panton found the routine work in Jacobsen's studio tedious and constraining; at the time the bulk of his creative energy lay with his own designs.

He struck out in 1953, equipping a Volkswagen bus as a mobile drafting studio and establishing contacts in the furniture and design world on an extended trip throughout Europe. Page 2 >