Continuing a theme of referencing the past with a keen eye on current and future trends in art and design, we present Great Scandinavian Textiles: A Select Survey of Important Modern Masterworks featuring two of the world’s leading textile design and printing firms - Finland’s Marimekko and Sweden’s Ljungbergs Textiltryck. The exhibit marks the first display of Ljungbergs in the United States.

Since the early 1950s, these two firms have led the world in the development of contemporary fabric for home and office furnishings, clothing, and fashion accessories. Their designs have become the hallmark of the modern movement that continues to impact upon our daily lives - where we dine, sleep, work and relax.

Marimekko, founded by Armi and Viljo Ratia, became a household name in the US soon after their first collection was introduced in 1951. Their vibrant Unikko design of brilliant oversized red flowers is now seen on everything from curtains and sheets to handbags and memo pads. Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis initiated the Marimekko frenzy when she purchased several dresses in the early 1960s. Marimekko textiles for home furnishings and apparel maintain their mass appeal. Working with designers beyond its Finnish borders, Marimekko stays in the forefront with bold, award-winning, large-scale prints created by a stable of designers including: Maija and Kristina Isola, Fujiwo Ishimoto and Anna Danielsson.

Ljungbergs Textiltryck, the prominent Swedish textile firm, founded in 1949 by Eric Ljungberg, to date is obscure in the U.S. It is recognized as a leading producer of quality custom-commissioned textiles for Scandinavian and European architects and designers. We are honored to introduce these selections from Ljungbergs’ extensive line to the American viewer. While Marimekko’s mass merchandising and retail stores helped to make it the penultimate symbol of modernism from the 50s through the 70s, Ljungbergs, with its limited run commissioned prints, proceeded quietly and successfully to influence the visual landscape of the era with unique designs:Atomic, created by Theodor (The) Svenberg, a 1926 Nobel Prize winning physicist; Raxt, by painter, sculptor and graphic designer Ollie Bonnier; and Pythagoras designed in 1952 by the great Swedish architect, Sven Markilus for the United Nations Secretariat Building in Manhattan. Standing the test of time, most of Ljungbergs’ ‘Signed Textile’ 50s designs remain in production and many of these will be displayed at Bravura.

We based our selection of the 40 displayed textiles on aesthetics, contemporary relevance and the diversity of fabrics and printing techniques. Focus is directed to mid-20th century iconic designs from both firms. Whenever possible, the mid-century designs are displayed in their originally issued colors. The exhibit compares, contrasts, clarifies and defines the evolving development of pattern, scale, ground and image as influenced by modern taste and 21st century technology. The use of photographically derived images, synthetics and the computer parallels the work of Rauschenberg, Warhol and numerous contemporary artists who embrace new technologies and techniques in lieu of traditional mediums. The 40 textiles will each be displayed in pristine three-yard panels that show the ‘repeats’ to their full advantage.

Please contact us with any questions you may have regarding viewings, group tours and pricing.

This exhibit is sponsored in part by Textile Arts www.txtlart.com