Bjørn Wiinblad (1918–2006) has been described as an artist with a thousand faces because he kept reinventing himself so that he could find new places and new materials to decorate. These include his finely decorated pottery, his imaginative theatre settings and tapestry, his smiling girls such as Eva and Rosalinde, the posters that you will never quite finish exploring and, not least, his candlesticks, glasses and bowls. All of them are infused with a joie de vivre and energy that are unique in Danish – and international – art and design.

Let in the magic and joy

Bjørn Wiinblad’s joy of creating was eclectic. He painted oriental, opulent ladies and quirky fabled animals – and spread joy, magic and imagination among the people at a time when minimalism was at its most dominant. Wiinblad’s brush swept into every nook and cranny of his art, and his urge to decorate kept him at the brush for life.

His unstoppable craving for creativity, his opulent oriental style and boundless talent made him a world artist like no other in Denmark, and today the tale of the cheerful multi-talented artist is celebrated in Bjørn Wiinblad’s authentic magical world and in a modern, functional style.

Bjørn Wiinblad was extremely hard-working, which is why he was not only a good businessmanm but also became one of the wealthiest Danish artists in the 1960s and 1970s. So wealthy that for a while he had seven homes - in Denmark, in southern Germany and in Switzerland, which he used as a base when travelling around for his commissions, or when he took his friends on long opera and cultural journeys.

Nobody had expected this to be the case for the young Bjørn Wiinblad when he debuted in 1945. And certainly not when he was born in 1918 in Østerbro, Copenhagen, in a family that was preoccupied with politics and social conditions.

His father, Otto Wiinblad, sat in Landstinget  for the Social Democrats, and his grandfather, Emil Wiinblad, was, in his time, editor of the Social Democratic newspaper and for a while also elected for the Landsting. Bjørn Wiinblad’s mother was called Ebba Wiinblad and she kept the family together, ensuring that the whole family, which included Bjørn’s sister Ulla, still took time out to spend in their summer cottage in Hvidovre every summer. Ebba Wiinblad sewed and pickled while the men discussed politics – including with Denmark’s Prime Minister Thorvald Stauning, who was a regular guest of the family until his death in 1942.

However, one little man in the family didn't want to discuss politics. That was Bjørn Wiinblad. He preferred to draw and paint, and over time he also began to write short stories.

Bjørn Wiinblad was a dreamer and had no ambition whatsoever to enter politics. Instead, he found joy in art and creativity.

Many years later, he told the weekly newspaper Hjemmet about the difficult years he experienced as a typographer student: 'Either I dropped all the text on the floor, or I'd spend my time writing poetry or drawing instead'. Wiinblad didn't settle into the harsh environment at all, and his boss was on his case: 'I swore to the other apprentices that I would never address him with the informal 'you' once I'd been trained – and that I would never drink beer'. According to tradition, apprentices always had to address their boss with the formal Danish 'you', and only on the day of their graduation were they allowed to use the informal 'you,' an occasion that was marked with a cold beer.

According to the quotes from an article in Hjemmet in 1988, Bjørn Wiinblad couldn't imagine anything worse. And he managed to avoid having that beer with his boss because the day he graduated, World War II broke out and people had other things on their mind.

For the parents, it may have been a relief that their son received a typographer education. As a child, Wiinblad had been mostly preoccupied with writing stories, drawing and playing the recorder. He went on trips to Dyrehaven north of Copenhagen, where he would spend hours daydreaming and looking at the beautiful animals. In primary school, he wasn't the sharpest in the class, but luckily his sister Ulla took him under her wing and supported him when necessary. But he did graduate a typographer, and Wiinblad would later benefit greatly from being able to work with large empty surfaces, which he had to decorate from a sketch in his head or drawn on paper.

In 1940, Wiinblad was a newly qualified typographer and had he followed the usual path, he would soon have found a job as a printer or compositor in a newspaper. But he couldn't let go of the idea of working with art – and preferably as an illustrator, so in 1940 he started studying at the graphic school in the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts. Wiinblad began by following his professor Aksel Jørgensen’s tight graphic style, but soon began looking for a place where he could fully unfold, lose himself in his imagination, and draw elf-like figures, women with almond eyes and beautiful flowers.

He found the answer in ceramics, which fellow student Lars Syberg introduced him to in around 1943. Syberg had his own workshop in Taastrup and invited Wiinblad to try his hand at ceramics. It turned out to be the right thing to do. When Wiinblad wasn't studying at the Academy of Fine Arts, he unleashed himself in Lars Syberg’s workshop. He couldn't twist or shape the ceramic, but he could decorate it and was particularly enthusiastic about working with the old cow horn technique, filling a cow's horn with color and applying it to a pot or dish. This gives a particularly fine line and requires a steady hand.

In 1945, Wiinblad graduated from the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, and that same year he debuted with a comprehensive exhibition in the small Binger gallery in Palægade in Copenhagen.

In addition to displaying a wealth of ceramic pots, dishes and bowls, he exhibited drawings, posters and illustrations for the book Aladdin and his magical lamp. The exhibition became a major attraction, and Wiinblad sold art worth 1000 kroner from day one. However, the most important thing about the exhibition was that he met a number of people who could soon get him started making even more ceramics and drawing even more posters. These included Jacob E. Bang, who had just become creative director of the small pottery factory, Nymølle. He quickly became friends with Wiinblad, and Jacob E. Bang soon hired the young Wiinblad to work for Nymølle, which in the years that followed led to a wealth of plates, bowls, cups, dishes, ashtrays and candleholders adorned with Wiinblad’s drawings flowing out the workshop.

This is how Bjørn Wiinblad came to be in every Dane's home – most people were able to afford the goods that came from the factory. His art reached ordinary people and that’s what he really wanted – allowing as many people as possible to enjoy the imaginative and opulent design he’s still known for.

For more than 50 years, Bjørn Wiinblad was one of Denmark’s most productive artists and recognized for his special, humorous lines, maximalist style and amazing colors. Since 2014, Rosendahl Design Group has held the rights to the enormous design archive, which includes everything from textiles to ceramics, glass and porcelain.

We go to great lengths to look back at the most popular and coveted designs from Bjørn Wiinblad and give them new life. In Bjørn Wiinblad’s world, the women’s faces with the almond-shaped eyes and pointed noses are some of the best known, and he kept returning to them through a variety of shapes and sizes.

Bjørn Wiinblad was a cheerful artist with a big and colorful personality who did his own thing and wasn't afraid to dream and think big. His soul is also embodied in Eva, a new interpretation of Wiinblad’s original vase with the characteristic smiling woman’s face he himself called Eva. Eva is a person in her own right and encourages us to express our own style and personality in  interior design with colorful bouquets of flowers, exotic plants, candles and creative decorations. One thing is for certain: Life is never dull when Eva moves in.

With her cheerful smile, blushing cheeks and colorful decorations, Eva embodies the essence of Bjørn Wiinblad as a person and an artist – whether in the form of a vase, candleholder or flower pot. Happy and dreamy, she brings life and personality to the interior with her poetic expression and vibrant colors. Wiinblad’s opulent design will inject extra life into your home.