Color Accent furniture

Karin Larsson spices up selected design objects with a bold color palette by the legendary artist and designer, whose work was an intrinsic part of her husband Carl Larsson’s artistry.

Nordic designers have been at the forefront of the international design scene for decades. But haven’t we been a bit restricted in terms of color? Design House Stockholm has decided to reach across the centuries and dress up 9 objects selected from our contemporary collection of accessory furniture pieces with 4 of the bold colors of Karin Larsson, a legend of Swedish art and design. Karin created furniture and textiles in a pre-modernist style in the late-nineteenth century. Her rich, bold color palette is celebrated in paintings by her husband Carl Larsson. Both are fixtures of the Swedish art and design world, and Design House Stockholm has decided that its most innovative collection of furniture will be rendered anew with this colorful bond to bridge two centuries together. “Design is about telling a story,” says Jesper Ståhl, master visualizer behind the short film on the dyed design objects, featuring Karin and Carl Larsson’s art and design. “Karin Larsson’s color palette is certainly a strong one, and I truly believe that color in design serves an undervalued emotional and practical function that brings character to any design object.”

Our contemporary collection includes accessory furniture that enriches any setting, private or public, with straightforward and functional simplicity that also pays tribute to the creativity of the Larsson family. The selected designs will be presented at Nationalmuseum, home and showplace for Karin and Carl Larsson’s art – and also for our collaborations with some of Sweden’s most compelling designers in the remaking of the museums café, bar and restaurant. The oak is treated with a Japanese glaze four times to ensure a rich and smooth finish. Our selection of designers, who have all chosen their own favorite color, includes: Lina Nordqvist (Family Chair), Gunilla Allard (Exit Trolley), Karl Malmvall (Step Ladder), Chuck Mack (Arco Sidetable), Mathieu Gustafsson (Air Cabinet), Atelier 2+ (Greenhouse), Alexander Lervik (Atelier Floor Hanger), Karl Malmvall and Jesper Ståhl (Wick Chair), and Jesper Ståhl (Flip Table).

Karin and Carl first met at a Scandinavian artists’ colony in Grez outside of Paris in 1882. They married the following year and later moved into a timber cottage, which was a gift from Karin’s father. Karin designed textiles and sewed her own and all 8 of their children’s clothes. Her interior decoration consisted of hand-me-down Gustavian furniture along with her own rustic, yet clearly modernistic designs, which were inspired by William Morris’ Arts-and-Crafts Movement. The pieces were painted in her bold, vibrant colors. Her weavings explored traditional techniques and added abstract geometric patterns, and she was also drawn to Japanese influences. Lilla Hyttnäs in Sundborn became a world-renowned artists’ residence and Gesamtkunstwerk, thanks to its colorful, folk-art-inflected decorative motifs. Carl Larsson used their light, informal, and comfortable home for his watercolors, which appeared at Nationalmuseum. Carl and Karin’s artistic talents coexisted in a powerful symbiosis that has left an everlasting impression on Swedish art, design and folklore.

Design House Stockholm Color Accent will be produced on order. Choose from four colors from Karin Larsson’s color palette. Prospective customers can order their favorite furniture from the start of the show at Nationalmuseum during Stockholm Furniture Fair 2020, until the end of May. The furniture will be delivered in September 2020. The Design House Stockholm Color Accent project is a collaboration with Carl Larsson estate.