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The Arts Intel Report

A Cultural Compass
For the World Traveler
A Cultural Compass
For the World Traveler

Svenskt Tenn: A Philosophy of Home

Estrid Ericson and Josef Frank at the Svenskt Tenn boutique.

Until Jan 12, 2025
Djurgårdsvägen 60, Falkenbergsgatan 3, 115 21 Stockholm, Sweden

In 1934, Josef Frank introduced the Liljevalchs sofa, his first piece of furniture for Svenskt Tenn, the Stockholm interior design store founded by Estrid Ericson in 1924. Named after the Liljevalchs Art Gallery, where it was first shown, the sofa stood as a warm-hearted rebuke to the austere functionalism of Modernist design. Instead, it represented a vision of the home as comfortable, colorful, and adaptable. Frank, who was born in Austria but became one of Sweden’s most celebrated artists, went on to create many more designs and textiles for Svenskt Tenn. To mark the centennial of the collaboration, the Liljevalchs Art Gallery is hosting the largest exhibition ever to focus on the store. It features 13 thematic rooms that showcase Ericson and Frank’s distinctive approach to interior design. —Jeanne Malle