ART DECO / MODERNIST DESK

SWEDISH C. 1940

FIDDLE BACK SYCAMORE

HISTORY: Reiners Möbel Fabrik in Mjölby made this desk, as a special commission and it is believed to have been designed by the architect Josef Frank.

JOSEF FRANK 1885 - 1967

Josef Frank's life could be wonderfully characterized as always in motion. Moving with ease from architecture and furniture design to glassware, lighting and metalwork, his was an eclecticism fuelled by curiosity and nothing captures this roaming imagination better than hid textiles celebratory and vibrant, they redefined Swedish modernism. Producing over 200 patterns between 1909 and 1950, Frank's designs defied contemporary sensibilities by offering a welcome contrast to the linear grid like restrictions that defined modernism, the Bauhaus and other. "Every human needs a certain degree of sentimentality to feel free", Frank said " Away with the universal styles, away with the equalization of industry and art". And therein lies his magic patterns that are almost architectural in their generous scale, that show affection for craft and reconcile seemingly disparate historic traditions and modern invention.

Length: 54" / 137 cm, Depth: 27" /68 ½" cm, Height: 30" / 76 cm

Ref. HG 7135