Folke Jansson

1920-2016

Sculptor, painter, ceramist, Folke Jansson addressed Art and Design with a unprecedented approach for a Scandinavian Designer.

Sculptor, painter, ceramist, Folke Jansson addressed art and design with a unprecedented approach for a Scandinavian. He tackled sculpture as a trained engraver in the ‘40 and later ceramics in a small factory at Koping. His early watercolors and scenography are of the same period. He stepped into the world of furniture almost by chance: he wanted to make the prototype of an armchair for himself, which turned to be too complex to be achieved with his own abilities in woodworking. The Wincranz Company, starting from a metal and paper model make by Folke, created the first Arabesk and presented it at the Gotheborg Furniture Fair in 1955. Since the product had a notable success, Folke started designing furniture (chairs, armchairs, chaise-longue) for the same firm. Folke Jansson is a designer who is difficult to define, being the creator of daily objects which are far from the organic forms of Aalto, and yet not aiming to the minimalism of Jacobsen or Kjaerholm. His experimentation has led him to play both with the free forms embedded into materials, and with the geometric patterns superimposed to them.

Suggested Readings

Martina Ihreborn, “Folke Jansson: formgivare och konstnär”, Ihreborn Production, ISBN: 9163374900, 9789163374906