The Austrian designer Josef Frank was perhaps the single most significant figure in transforming the reputation of Scandinavian design in the early 20th century with his exuberant, imaginative patterns, colours and furniture. In the 1930s Frank was forced to flee Austria, where he was already an established designer, for his wife's home country Sweden, to escape the rising violence of anti-Semitism. Once in Sweden, Frank undertook work designing for wealthy clients as well as on affordable workers' apartments that prioritised light, air and space. He joined the furniture workshop Svenskt Tenn, which had been founded 10 years earlier, in 1934, and began to pioneer his signature style, favouring eclectic colour schemes and bold floral prints, but with an underlying core of solid functionality. Ultimately he would produce over 2000 furniture sketches and 160 textile prints for Svenskt Tenn, with many still being produced and sold today.
Svenskt Tenn is currently staging an exhibition of Josef Frank's chairs, featuring three new chairs made from archive designs. Each of these three chairs embodies the principles which Frank applied to his work - quality craftsmanship and practicality. Of the three new designs, there are two armchairs, the compact ‘Armchair 930’ and the graceful bentwood ‘Armchair P4’, both of which feature Frank's fantastical botanical prints, and the slim dining chair, 'Chair 1179', which was inspired by historical Egyptian design and made by hand in leather, mahogany and rattan.
The exhibition can be seen at Svenskt Tenn store in Stockholm, though the highlights of the exhibition, and the chairs that are for sale, can also be found on the website.
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