Feb
19
R 20th Century is pleased to announce this retrospective exhibition on the Swedish-American designer and architect Greta Magnusson Grossman, May 2 – June 29, 2013.
Greta Magnusson Grossman (1906-1999) maintained a prolific forty-year career on two continents, Europe and North America, with achievements in industrial design, interior design and architecture.
In the late 1920s Grossman finished a one-year woodworking apprenticeship in her hometown of Helsingborg, Sweden and was awarded a scholarship to enroll at Konstfack (then known as Högre Konstindustriella Skolan), the renowned Stockholm arts institution. At Konstfack she excelled in her mastery of technical drawing and focused her original design work on furniture, textiles and ceramics. In 1933 Grossman received second place for furniture design from the Stockholm Craft Association, becoming the first woman to receive an award in that category. In 1934 the Swedish Society of Industrial Design awarded her a scholarship to travel throughout Europe and she filed reports of her observations on interior design and architecture for the “Women and Home” section of the Swedish paper Nya Dagligt Allehanda.
Ten years after her death, however, there remains a loyal following of her work. Her walnut and iron desk, circa 1952 for Glenn of California, is an excellent example of Grossman’s ability to mix heavy materials in designs that seem weightless. The desktop is supported with a diagonal dowel leg supported by bent iron rods. A box for supplies appears to float above the work surface.
R 20th Century
R 20th Century is a gallery devoted to historic and contemporary design exhibition and education. Founded by Zesty Meyers and Evan Snyderman in 1997, the gallery presents groundbreaking exhibitions and publications of both historic significance and emerging talent. R 20th Century represents a diverse program of international design from North America, South America, Europe and Asia, produced between 1945 and the present. R 20th Century has an extensive archive, library and collection that chronicle the rapid ascent of the design market. In addition to the exhibition program, gallery and publications, Meyers and Snyderman contribute widely to publications and lecture frequently about design.
R Gallery
82 Franklin Street
New York
NY 10013
T 212 343 7979
F 212 343 0226
