Josef Franks wallpaper designs created from 1920 to 1950 have proved timeless. We can still get these Scandinavian Modern classics from two companies!
Explore Neville Trickett's 4536 photos on Flickr!
One of the first “new” textile designers I discovered on our trip was Josef Frank. I use the word new loosely as Josef Frank (1885-1967) is wildly popular in the textile design world, b…
J’aime les artistes complets. Joseph Frank était un grand architecte et un designer de génie de la première...
Josef Frank, 1980s
On April 2 and 3 Villa Beer built between 1929 and 1931 Josef Frank’s Viennese masterpiece and a prime example of the Modernist architectural style will open to
Explore Neville Trickett's 4536 photos on Flickr!
If the long cold winter is getting you down, I can thoroughly recommend a visit to the Fashion and Textile Museum to see “Josef Frank: Patterns – Furniture – Painting”. The…
If you're a lover of colorful and original prints, you've probably come across the designs of Josef Frank more than once.
In an exhibition opening at London's Fashion and Textile Museum, Josef Frank’s bodacious midcentury prints are blooming here, there, and everywhere
Explore Neville Trickett's 4536 photos on Flickr!
A look back at the life and legacy of Josef Frank, a pioneer of Swedish Modern design whose colorful patterns are beloved around the world.
Explore Neville Trickett's 4536 photos on Flickr!
Explore Neville Trickett's 4536 photos on Flickr!
If you're a lover of colorful and original prints, you've probably come across the designs of Josef Frank more than once.
In 2017 a group of conservators-restorers conducted a conservation-science study of the materials used in the construction of Josef Frank’s main work, the Villa Beer (1930) in Vienna-Hietzing, and of the building’s surfaces. The study was an opportunity to find evidence indicating whether the contemporary description of the wall colour as a non-colour white corresponded to physical reality. The notion ‘Weiss, alles Weiss’ (‘white, everything white’), celebrated as ‘an expression of values and of the times’ (Hammann, 1930), will be identified as a cultural construct that stands in contradiction to the actual materiality of the buildings of the period. We must rewrite the colour history of Modern Movement architecture. The ‘White Cubes’ were never white.
Josef Frank (July 15, 1885, in Baden bei Wien January 8, 1967, in Stockholm) was an Austrianborn architect, artist, and designer who adopted Swedish citizenship in the latter half of his life. Together with Oskar Strand, he created the Vienna School of Architecture, and its concept of Modern hous
Happy New Year friends! This is my first post of 2012. Yikes! I want to get into a more regular schedule but life is busy, so my goal is to post as much as I can in the New Year without being hard on myself for not fitting it in. I get so much joy out of writing this blog and sharing my thoughts, ideas, inspirations and adventures with you in this way. During winter break, Sofia and I went on an adventure to Ballard – a neighborhood in Seattle where many Scandinavian immigrants settled years ago. Now Ballard is a hip, gentrified neighborhood with few signs of the Swedes, Norwegians, Danes, Finns and Icelanders who settled there. Except for the Nordic Heritage Museum, a gem of a place that houses “an internationally recognized museum and cultural center where people of all backgrounds are welcomed to be inspired by the values, traditions, art, and spirit of the Nordic peoples” (according to their website). Inspired we were! Our adventure took us to the Nordic Heritage Museum because I wanted to see the Josef Frank exhibit. I had never heard of Frank before but when I saw an ad for the exhibit featuring his colorful textile designs, I knew I would love it and that Sofia would too. And we did! Austrian-born designer and architect Frank (1885–1967) is considered a leading pioneer of Swedish Modern design. Frank married a Swede and moved to Stockholm in 1933. Unlike the severe approach to modernism taken by many of his contemporaries, Frank emphasized comfort and informality, producing whimsical designs inspired by nature. Frank’s lavish use of bright, bold colors and floral patterns quickly became popular with a host of Swedish designers and clientele. Frank believed that complex, colorful patterns produced a calming effect in a room as long as the walls remained white. According to Frank, "The modern living room has white walls; that is the only possibility to preserve the freedom of introducing into a room whatever one wants without being hindered by colored decorations." Such walls, Frank believed, provided the proper backdrop for mixing an assortment of textile patterns. One textile might serve as curtains, another as a bedspread, and a third as furniture upholstery. Sofia's favorite was the Hawaii pattern. (below) According to Svenskt Tenn, Frank found inspiration for the Hawaii pattern at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. There he found a remarkable collection of “Trees of Life” from the north side of the Indian peninsula. This pattern, with its intertwined stems, bears similarities to these trees. My favorite was this Cattleya pattern. Cattleya is an orchid that grows in the rainforests of South America. I love the vivid colors and the happy, joyful flower pattern. I especially loved it on this couch - see below. Doesn't it just look so inviting and comfy? I thought this green chair looked fun and inviting too. Apartment Therapy went a little crazy with Josef Frank wallpaper and pillows... pretty fun if you ask me. If you're up for a little Scandinavian culture and a colorful adventure, I hope you will visit The Enduring Designs of Josef Frank exhibit, which runs through February 19 at the Nordic Heritage Museum.