Swedish Inspired
(1908-2002)
Greta Skogster-Lehtinen (1900-1994)
Greta Skogster-Lehtinen was a Finnish textile artist noted for her tapestry weaving techniques and her hand-woven carpets. Her most distinguished projects were the commission from the Helsinki Parliament House and international exhibitions in Barcelona, Brussels, Milan, New York and Paris. Skogster-Lehtinen’s work is also showcased in the Design Museum in Helsinki.
Read more: Finnish Innovations: the Textile Works of Greta Skogster-Lehtinen
Edna Martin (b. Sweden, 1908-2003)
Ingrid Dessau (1923-2000)
Swedish textile designer, Ingrid Dessau was born in the Skåne region of southern Sweden. Dessau studied at the technical school in Stockholm and in 1953, had her debut exhibition. From her exhibition, she gained worked as a designer for Kasthall’s carpet factory, later moving to work at Kinnasand’s. The focus for her work was primarily rugs and textiles. She achieved commissions from banks, embassies and museums.
Judith Johansson was a textile artist in Swedish during the mid-20th century. Her style, typical of Swedish fold designs, featured a variety of colors and patters inspired by nature and geometry. The popularity of her designs led to her opening a weaving studio in 1938 wit her husband in Knäred, Sweden and in 1945 she was working for Nordiska Kompaniet department stores designing their carpets. By the 1950s, Johansson’s carpets and textiles could be seen in churches and embassies. Her work was immensely popular and earned her many awards.
Ingalill Sjöblom was a Swedish textile designer working in the middle decades of the twentieth century, known for flatweave carpets and for woven wall hangings.
She designed rugs for Bohusslöjd in Gothenburg around 1958, among them the carpet Colosseum, and her wall hangings were woven at Borås Jacquardväfveri in the 1960s. Her work is handwoven in wool, and the tapestry-woven hangings carry titles of their own, such as Min dröm.
Agda Österberg (1891 – 1987)
Stockholm-based textile designer. Joined textile studio Libaria in 1924 where she served as Director and Artistic Director for ten years. In 1933 she started Three Streams in Varnhem where she created many church textiles and carpets for public areas. Her compositions are purely abstract or stylized plant motifs of the often strong color tones.
Ingegerd Silow (1916-2005) was a Swedish textile designer and weaver, and one of the better known names in mid-century Swedish carpet design. She worked principally in rölakan, the Swedish flatweave technique, and is admired above all as a colourist: her grounds are rarely a single flat hue but are shaded with undertones drawn from elsewhere in the design.
Her rugs are signed with the monogram IS woven into one corner, and pieces in this collection carry that mark.