Bent Karlby for Lyfa

BENT KARLBY (Denmark, 1912- 1998) for Lyfa.
Ceiling lamp, c. 1960.
Opaline, lacquered metal disc, and copper.
Measurements: 18 x 40 cm.
Lamp with a design of sober lines that is based on a perforated metal shade on the outside and an opaline glass diffuser on the inside that prevents glare.
Bent Karlby was a Danish architect and designer who excelled in lamp design. He graduated from a local technical school in the 1930s. During the war, he joined the Danish resistance movement and contributed to an underground newspaper. He fled to Sweden in 1943, where he opened his own design studio in 1944. In 1940, Karlby began his collaboration with the renowned Danish lighting company LYFA, a partnership that would last nearly four decades. He was known for exploring the boundary between functionality and art, creating designs that often combined soft light, organic forms and distinctive details such as "peepholes." Over time, his style evolved into purer geometric shapes such as cones and cylinders, and the use of bold colors.
Among his best-known designs for LYFA are the Peanut, China, Mosaik and Pan pendant lamps, as well as the Peacock and Quadrille wall lamps.