Svenkst Tenn’s legacy may be synonymous with Swedish culture, but it might surprise many to know that Josef Frank, the Austrian designer and architect who shaped Svenkst Tenn’s aesthetic signature over three decades, actually spent a formative period of time in New York, not long after joining the company in the early 1930s. Frank’s time in New York City and travelling around the United States ultimately resulted in an extensive catalogue of textile prints, many of which are still in production today.
Svenskt Tenn: The American Chapter
This era is being celebrated in a new journal, aptly titled The American Chapter - a poetic precursor to the company’s centenary in 2024. Featuring photography of some of Frank’s timeless designs set against the Swedish archipelago by the duo Peter and Ingela Klemetz Farago, the journal pays tribute to Svenskt Tenn’s colourful heritage while emphasising just how ahead of its time Frank and Svenskt Tenn founder Estrid Ericson were.
Accompanied by essays from Sally Singer and Lynn Yaeger, as well as illustrations by Cecilia Carlstedt, The American Chapter sees some of Svenskt Tenn’s most recognizable designs placed in surreal settings. The Faragos shot the Liljevalchs sofa, one of the first pieces of furniture that Frank designed for Svenskt Tenn in 1934, against a barren landscape of stone and water, while his Manhattan print is depicted as an endless road, rolling across a series of hills.
‘The creative vision and the concept for these images were to catch each piece in its singularity, to treat them as personalities, and place them against a background that is unconventional but contemporary,’ says Ingela Klemetz Farago. ‘We feel that furniture is often photographed in a basic structure and we wanted to take the objects out of this frame and give them a new context. By picking the right location for each object, and playing with simple elements like angle, light, shadows and reflections, we created an atmosphere where the environment embraces Josef Frank's creations. These photographs illuminate the full circle between Frank´s American Chapter and his Scandinavian roots, and pay a direct homage to the city that laid the foundation for Svenskt Tenn´s proud heritage.’
During his time at the company, Frank produced more than 3,000 interior sketches and 250 textile prints, which have all been preserved in Svenskt Tenn’s archives in Stockholm. Some of the designs he created while living in New York in refuge because of the Second World War are amongst the company’s most well-known, such as Terrazzo, Hawai, California, Tulpaner, Vegetable Tree, and of course, Manhattan.
‘There is a certain difference in Frank’s work before and during his time in New York,’ shares Per Ahldén, the curator of Svenkst Tenn’s archives and collections. ‘To start with, he focused much more on pattern than furniture once in New York. His work also became more imaginative and colourful, especially in comparison with the rather restrained colour palette he worked with in Austria and Sweden. A lot of his inspiration came from the different books he purchased of America’s bird life, flowers, and trees, which is visible in many of the patterns he made in the 1940s.’
He continues, ‘After New York, Frank went back to making furniture and focused less on patterns. Many of his furniture sketches were made in the 1950s and 1960s, whereas we’ve found fewer patterns from this time.’
Peter Farago concludes, ‘To dig into Josef Frank’s and Estrid Ericson’s universe has been truly amazing, it felt like nothing was impossible. They just moved forward and had a true love relationship towards their work. Our goal was to showcase, highlight, and celebrate Svenskt Tenn’s creations through our eyes. Svenskt Tenn was ahead of the times with respect to their creations, Ericson’s and Frank’s intentions were sustainable, for example, "A home is never finished, you should mix old and new, colours and forms, things that you like will all the same melt into a quiet unity." This is something that we hold close to our photography as well. We want the spectator to be able to look at the images after 20 years and still feel the same spirit.’
