A new exhibition explores the later-life watercolour work of the textile designer Josef Frank
The twentieth-century designer and architect Josef Frank (1885-1967) is best known for his lively, vividly coloured textile designs and distinctive furniture, which he produced for the revered Swedish design brand Svenskt Tenn. Frank was prolific: he designed 160 textiles, often bedecked with f loral shapes, butterflies, birds and vegetables, and over 2,000 pieces of furniture. Although he was forced to flee from Hitler's Europe, his textiles are full of cheer and optimism. Perhaps that explains their timeless appeal: more than 40 are still being produced and sold by Svenskt Tenn.
What is less known about Frank is that he spent his later years painting watercolours. He had drawn all his life, starting when he was an architect in his native Austria, before he painted his furniture sketches and pattern designs in the Thirties and Forties. But it was not until the age of 68, after completing 'Himalaya', his final textile for Svenskt Tenn, that he took up what he referred to as 'hobby-painting'. He spent long summers painting in Provence with his friend Trude Wagner, and also enjoyed painting street scenes in London in the spring and autumn. The paintings are softer than his textiles, but the subjects are the same: flowers, fruit trees, landscapes and birds. After his death in 1967, several linen folders crammed with 400 of his paintings were found in a wardrobe in his Stockholm house.
A new exhibition - brought over from Stockholm's Millesgarden - is being staged at the Fashion and Textile Museum in London, bringing together 34 fabrics and 59 watercolours. Incredibly, it will be the first UK exhibition dedicated to Josef Frank, and one definitely worth making some time to visit.
'Josef Frank: Patterns - Furniture - Painting' runs from January 28 to May 7; admission, £9.90. ftmlondon.org | svenskttenn.se
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