This article was written by Charles Victor Knox and published in The Chicago Evening Post Magazine.
FRAGILE and beautiful Orrefors glass, much of it exquisitely graved; subdued but preeminently modern silver, superb pewter, fresh and vigorous modern versions of classic chests, desks and chairs; unique and decorative rugs and hangings - all from the workshops of contemporary Swedish craftsmen and all representative of the best products of Swedish craftsmanship - are on current exhibition in the Anderson block, Lake Forest, under the auspices of a group of Lake Forest women interested in the modern trend of the decorative arts. The show will continue thru Oct. 23.
Perhaps the outstanding group in the exhibition is one of silver both designed and executed by Viven Nilsson of Lund, a former pupil of George Jensen, the Danish silversmith. The modern style in arts and crafts is still very much in the formative period and what is or is not modern is a question that can only be answered with an opinion. However, it can be safely said that Nilsson, in this group of silverware, has come closer to the essential spirit of modernism than any other silversmith.
There is one item in that remarkable group that alone would give him first rank among his fellows.
It is a delicate wine "glass", the bowl composed of truncated cones and supported on a narrow shaft, which terminates at each end in cog wheels. No description of details, however, could convey the impression of simple and satisfying grace it creates.
It is a complete entity, a modernistic triumph.
Whoever contemplates it forgets after a minute or so that it is a wine glass - forgets that it has any utilitarian purpose. To him it becomes a piece of sculpture, made to delight his eye and satisfy his soul. The essence of the modern age seems to be imprisoned in that one small piece of silverware.
Besides Nilsson's group are items of merit designed by Wolter Gahn, president of the Swedish Institute of Architecture, and by Jacob Ängman, follower of a slightly elder school of craftsmanship but, nevertheless, designer of some very fine pieces in keeping with the modern age. There are also several original and commendable lamps and candelabra in silver and pewter, designed by Elis Bergh and manufactured by the firm of Hallberg, Stockholm.
The pewter shown is the only line of pewter that received a gold medal at the international exposition of decorative arts in Paris, that of the Svenskt Tenn, of which a woman, a Miss Eriksson, is the manager. Among the designers whose work is on view in Lake Forest are Uno Ohren, an architect; Ossian Elgstroem, a painter, and Nils Fougstedt, the first of the Swedish pewterers, who started the pewter renaissance twenty years ago and is today the foremost Swedish designer in that alloy.
While the silver surpasses the pewter for sheer beauty of form, the plates and vessels of the the latter metal are equally attractive because of the patina of the metal and because the designs are remarkably adapted to pewter. Among the pieces shown are coffee and tea sets with sugar bowl and creamer, hand mirrors, jewel and cigaret boxes of various sizes, trays, goblets, powder boxes, cups and vases.
All of the pieces are embellished, some more and some less, and many of those by Fougstedt are signed. The adornment in most cases consists of engraved designs, some of them rather humorous picturizations of various phases of rural life but all thoroughly in harmony with the modern spirit.
Among the unusual pieces are two or three Chinese ginger jars equipped with pewter tops and bases. In these items, as well as in a number of others, edgings of brass are fused with the pewter, a technique found elsewhere only in ancient Chinese pewter. In one or two examples small brass ornaments have been applied.
The Orrefors glass, from the Orrefors works in the province of Smaaland, Sweden, is unique and beautiful. All of the glass is blown and much of it is engraved. Two talented designers, Gate and Hald, are responsible for the exquisite shapes and adornaments of the pieces shown. Hald recently visited the United States and studied American artistic demands and some of the first sampled of glassware he made after returning to Sweden are included in the exhibition. The engravings are executed with great vigor and are a very welcome and radical departure from the time-honoured type of glass embellishments. Nude figures of a rather modernistic type are the chief items of decoration and these are applied in friezes, all in intaglio relief. The skill employed in cutting the figures, together with the fine artistic inspiration of the designers, combine to produce glassware of an exceptionally high type.
Most of the glass is white, but a few pieces are smoky and one or two are made up of three layers of different colored glass. The best example of the latter type is a bowl made up of white, amber and blue layers of different colored glass. The engraving on this piece, sparsely covering this entire surface, pictures a number of people viewing an exhibition of fire-works. The people form a frieze at the base and the rest of the surface represents the dark sky, against which the pyrotechnics are being displayed. By engraving thru either one or two layers of glass, the designer, Hald, has been able to employ all three colors in his composition, making it very effective.
All of the furniture shown, with the exception of one table, was designed by Carl Malmsten, Swedish architect, who won the grand prix in the furniture division of the Paris exposition. The one exception is the work of his partner, Carl Norberg.
The principal items of furniture are chests of drawers and desks. Straight lines are almost invariably employed, together with woods in contrasting shades and mother of pearl inlay. These chests and desks lack the stiffness and coldness so often found in so called modern furniture. They are new and entirely pleasing adaptions of classic styles, shorn of furbelows and jimcracks. Like Nilsson’s silver, they seem to come nearer to fulfilling the demands of the modern spirit than almost anything that has yet come to light.
Several rugs and hangings represent the present state of the Swedish textile industry and complete the collection. A number of the items have been signed by their designers.
This section of the exhibit shows Malmsten in the role of a textile designer and the rugs of his on view indicate that his ability in this department of the applied arts is almost as great as his ability as a furniture designer. The rugs are all subdued in color and design but have that freshness and vitality about them that makes them fit perfectly into the modern scheme of decoration.
One of the rugs shown was designed by Annie Frykholm and is called “Tempera”. It was a prize winner at the Paris exposition. One of the hangings is called “The Bouquet” and another, “Mountain Landscape”, both highly conventionalized designs. “The Bouquet” is a typical Nordic design, as is the design found in a rug on view, called a bear rug. All of the rugs follow the old Scandinavian technique - the ones with short nap are “rya” and those with very long nap are known as “flossa”.
The exhibition as a whole pictures the Swedish designers as working toward a wholesome and sane development of a new style rather than wildly revolting against the traditions of the crafts. Too many “modern things are produced merely with the desire of getting completely away from all that is old at any cost, regardless of whether or not the “new” style is worthy. In marked contrast the craftsmen of Sweden are genuinely interested in producing pieces that are artistically sound and eminently adapted to the needs and tenor of the age. They are builders, not iconoclasts - and builders are what the modern movement in the crafts sorely needs.
The collection on view in Lake Forest has been supplied by the Swedish Arts and Crafts company and is in charge of Tage Palm. This company, while primarily a commercial enterprise, is endeavoring to carry on the educational program started by the Swedish government on behalf of the native arts and crafts. Mr. Palm has been in charge of various government exhibitions in this country, one of which was held at the Art institute not long ago.
