Art Bulletin of Nationalmuseum Stockholm Volumes 24 – 25

Spika and Tajt – Alternative Furniture for a Young Generation

Cilla RobachSenior Curator, Applied Art and Design

Art Bulletin of Nationalmuseum Stockholm Volumes 24 – 25

Foreword

Dr. Susanna PetterssonDirector General

Associate Professor

Art Bulletin of Nationalmuseum Volumes 24 –25, 2017 – 2018

(An Unpublished Drawing on Panel by Salvator Rosa Depicting a Landscape with a Philosopher and Astrological Symbols, Fig. 6, p. 22).© The Capitoline Museums, Rome. Archivio Fotografico dei Musei Capitolini, Roma, Sovrinten-denza Capitolina ai Beni Culturali.(A Drawing for Pietro da Cortona’s Rape of the Sabine Women, Fig. 2, p. 28).© Bibliothèque Nationale France, Paris.(The Entry of Queen Christina into Paris in 1656, by François Chauveau, Fig. 2, p. 32).© Finnish National Gallery/ Sinebrychoff Art Museum, Helsinki. Photo: Jaakko Lukumaa(Self-Portraits and Artists’ Portraits as Portraits of Friends – A Selection of Paintings and Drawings, Fig. 2, p. 72).© IKEA.(Spika and Tajt – Alternative Furniture for a Young Generation, Fig. 5, p. 88).© Moderna museet, Stockholm(Henry B. Goodwin – A Visual Artist with the Camera as His Tool, Fig. 2, p. 90).© The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles. Digital image courtesy of the Getty’s Open Content Program.(Per Krafft the Younger and Belisarius – One of the Foremost Swedish Examples of Neoclassical Painting in the French Style, Figs. 3–4, pp. 113–114).© Albert Bonniers Förlag, Stockholm(Nils Kreuger’s Drafts for the Covers of Bland Franska Bönder (1889) by August Strindberg and Ord och Bild (1897), Fig. 2, p. 137). © Bukowskis auktioner, Stockholm(Nils Kreuger’s Drafts for the Covers of Bland Franska Bönder (1889) by August Strindberg and Ord och Bild (1897), Fig. 3, p. 138; Acquisitions 2017: Exposé, Fig, 3, p. 178).© Pia Ulin.(The Nationalmuseum’s New Restaurant – An Artistic Collaboration, Figs. 1, 2, 4, and 5, pp. 149, 150, 152 and 153).© Wikimedia Commons/ Public Domain(Per Krafft the Younger and Belisarius – One of the Foremost Swedish Examples of Neoclassical Painting in the French Style, Fig 3, p. 112 and In the Breach of Decorum: Painting between Altar and Gallery, Figs. 1–8, 10–12, and 14–18, pp. 155–172).© Wikimedia Commons/ CC BY 3.0

Art Bulletin of Nationalmuseum, Stockholm, is published with generous support from the Friends of the Nationalmuseum.

Nationalmuseum collaborates with Svenska Dagbladet, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Grand Hôtel Stockholm, The Wineagency and Nationalmusei Vänner.

Cover IllustrationEtienne Bouhot (1780–1862), View of the Pavillon de Bellechasse on rue Saint-Dominique in Paris, 1823. Oil on canvas, 55.5 x 47 cm. Purchase: the Hedda and N. D. Qvist Fund. Nationalmuseum, NM 7434.

PublisherSusanna Pettersson, Director General.

EditorsLudvig Florén, Magnus Olausson and Martin Olin.

Editorial CommitteeLudvig Florén, Carina Fryklund, Eva Lena Karlsson, Audrey Lebioda, Ingrid Lindell, Magnus Olausson, Martin Olin, Cilla Robach and Lidia Westerberg Olofsson.

PhotographersNationalmuseum Photographic Studio/Linn Ahlgren, Erik Cornelius, Anna Danielsson, Cecilia Heisser, Per-Åke Persson and Hans Thorwid.

Picture EditorsLudvig Florén and Rikard Nordström.

Photo Credits© Le Gallerie degli Uffizi, Palazzo Pitti, Florence. Gabinetto Fotografico delle Gallerie degli Uffizi.(An Unpublished Drawing on Panel by Salvator Rosa Depicting a Landscape with a Philosopher and Astrological Symbols, Fig. 3, p. 19).© Teylers Museum, Haarlem. (An Unpublished Drawing on Panel by Salvator Rosa Depicting a Landscape with a Philosopher and Astrological Symbols, Fig. 5, p. 21).© The State Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg. Photo by Pavel Demidov.

(In the Breach of Decorum: Painting between Altar and Gallery, Fig. 9, p. 163).© Wikimedia Commons/ CC BY 2.0(In the Breach of Decorum: Painting between Altar and Gallery, Fig. 13, p. 167).© The John & Mable Ringling Museum of Art, Sarasota. Bequest of John Ringling, 1936. (In the Breach of Decorum: Painting between Altar and Gallery, Fig. 19, p. 173).© Uppsala auktionskammare, Uppsala (Acquisitions 2017: Exposé, Fig 4, p. 178).

Graphic DesignBIGG

LayoutAgneta Bervokk

Translation and Language EditingClare Barnes, Gabriella Berggren, and Martin Naylor.

PublishingLudvig Florén, Magnus Olausson, and Martin Olin (Editors) and Ingrid Lindell (Publications Manager).

Art Bulletin of Nationalmuseum is publishedannually and contains articles on the history and theory of art relating to the collections of theNationalmuseum.

NationalmuseumBox 16176SE–103 24 Stockholm, Swedenwww.nationalmuseum.se

© Nationalmuseum, the authors and the owners of the reproduced works.

ISSN 2001-9238

85 Art Bulletin of Nationalmuseum Volumes 24 –25, 2017 – 2018

ACQUISITIONS/ SPIKA AND TAJT – ALTERNATIVE FURNITURE FOR A YOUNG GENERATION

bench. Magnus Silfverhielm designed a textile for the Spika range, with a pattern inspired by the Moorish palace, the Alhambra in Granada, Spain (Fig. 2). The pattern was printed on calico.5 1.3 million shelves were manufactured and, in 1969, it was awarded furnishing of the year by Allt i Hemmet magazine.

The Spika shelves can be regarded as a symbol of people’s changing attitudes to possessions at the end of the 1960s, but to understand its significance we must examine it in a wider context.

In the first half of the 20th century, the idea of a “more beautiful everyday item” was the guiding principle for Swedish design.6 Simply put, this vision was built upon the following assumption: that the beautiful everyday item was an object with a practical function, which was so well designed that it was equally suitable for everyday life and for celebrations. To create objects that fulfil this high aesthetic quality, industry would cooperate on their product development with artists or desig-ners. Thanks to industrial mass produc-tion, the price of more beautiful everyday items would be so reasonable that they could reach broad consumer groups. The items would be produced by Swedish companies, creating jobs in Sweden and improving the national economy, parti-cularly if they were so attractive that they could also be exported.

The realisation of the above vision turned out to be more difficult than its promoters – politicians, reformers,

According to KF’s (The Swedish Coopera-tive Union) 1972 brochure about the Spika furniture set, “[a]nyone can put Spika together”.1

The shelves’ originator was the architect Erik Karlström who, aided by his apprentice Magnus Silfverhielm, designed them in 1967.2 In 2018, Silfverhielm said that one day Karlström walked into the office’s afternoon coffee break and presen-ted his idea for shelving built from one standard piece of particle board, measuring 210 x 120 cm and 16 mm thick. From this, he had designed a piece of furniture that was 203 cm high and had five shelves, 53 cm wide and 26 cm deep. However, there was limited enthusiasm about the shelves in the coffee room, with only Silfverhielm expressing any delight in this simple piece of furniture. He was tasked with producing a prototype. After several attempts, he found a panel pin from Gunnebo Bruk in Småland with the right qualities for nailing together the porous particle board.3

The shelves were noticed by KF’s textiles manager, Hedvig Block-Hedqvist, when she visited the architects’ office, and Spika was launched in KF Interiör’s range.4 Its sections had pre-drilled holes and were nailed together by the consumer. The shelves that Magnus Silfverhielm gene-rously donated to the Nationalmuseum’s collections in 2017 are the ones originating from the office (Fig. 1). Spika was soon expanded into a set that included a low bed frame, seating, desk, trolley and stereo

Spika and Tajt – Alternative Furniture for a Young Generation

Cilla RobachSenior Curator, Applied Art and Design

Fig. 1 Erik Karlström (1923–2005), Shelf “Spika”. Produced by Kooperativa Förbundet, 1968. Chipboard, 203 x 53.7 x 26 cm (h x w x d). Gift of the Friends of the Nationalmuseum, the Design Fund. Nationalmuseum, NMK 16/2017.

86Art Bulletin of Nationalmuseum Volumes 24 –25, 2017 – 2018

individuals could have different needs and that these could change at different stages of life.8 It was therefore impossible to continue talking about “right and wrong” consumption in the way that the arbiters of taste were doing. It was notable that Larsson was the one to present this opinion, as she had been a representative of the taste education movement for many years.

ACQUISITIONS/ SPIKA AND TAJT – ALTERNATIVE FURNITURE FOR A YOUNG GENERATION

brochures, etc. The question of whether the consumers who did not choose more beautiful everyday items actually had other needs or wanted other values was never discussed.

However, in 1960–61, interior architect Lena Larsson broadened this perspective through the buy-use-dispose debate.7 Here, Larsson maintained that consump-tion was “a human right”, that different

authors, architects, designers, etc. – had desired. There were other items on the market, often attracting consumers more than the simple designs characteristic of the more beautiful everyday items. There was a feeling that the problem was a lack of consumer education regarding taste and quality, so a number of taste education projects were conducted, such as exhi-bitions, publications, courses, journals,

Fig. 2 Magnus Silfverhielm (b. 1945), Textile Print “Spika” with Red, Blue and Green Pattern. Produced by Kooperativa Förbundet, 1968. Cotton, various lengths. Gift of Birgitta Mattson, Stockholm. Nationalmuseum, NMK 32–34/2017.

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ACQUISITIONS/ SPIKA AND TAJT – ALTERNATIVE FURNITURE FOR A YOUNG GENERATION

Larsson’s pragmatic approach to consumption and design was linked to the general development of Swedish society. Growth was strong and women had entered the labour market. From searching for rational and collective solutions to societal problems through policy, there was increasing consideration of individuals’ uniqueness, their varying dreams and desires. Perhaps creating well designed, high quality furniture that could be passed down through generations was not what was wanted? Why did furniture have to be a major financial investment? Couldn’t you just as well buy a folding chair when you bought a crate of beer? This more easy-going attitude to furnishing’s status and durability inspired designers to create furniture with flexibi-lity as the key concept. The Spika shelves must be interpreted in this light if their radicalness and significance is to be under-stood.

The success of the Spika shelves was an inspiration. In 1969, KF Interiör presented a combined sofa/bed, Laban, designed by Ingvar Carlsson. Soft stuffed cushions in brown corduroy rested on a chipboard frame.9 In 1972, IKEA launched Byggbiten, which was a similar but more advanced furniture system.10 Byggbiten was designed by Stephan Gip and constructed as modules. Consumers bought chipboard and variously sized wooden parts that were fixed together with the included brackets and screws to make different pieces of furniture, all depending on the customer’s individual needs. Like Spika, the consumers chose the cushions and covers, as well as whether the furnitu-re was painted or not.

Stephan Gip was one of the more progressive designers of that decade. His inflatable Blow-Up furniture was launched in 1967 (Fig. 3) and is reminiscent of an inflatable swim ring. By using air as both the filling and frame, the furniture was weightless and easy to move between rooms. When it was no longer needed, it could be deflated and stored in the ward-

Fig. 4 Gillis Lundgren (1929–2016), Easy Chair/Recliner/Bed “Tajt”. Produced by IKEA, 1973. Upholstered denim, steel pipes, leather straps, 65 x 84 x 90 cm (as chair). Purchase: the Ulla and Gunnar Trygg Fund. Nationalmuseum, NMK 32/2018.

Fig. 3 Stephan Gip (b. 1936), Easy Chair “Blow-up”, 1967. Inflatable PVC, 100 cm (diam.). Gift of Stephan Gip. Nationalmuseum, NMK 14/1989.

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4. Hedvig Hedqvist, undated notes. National-museum Archives, supplementary information NMK 16/2017. See also Hedvig Hedkvist, 1900–2002 Svensk form Internationell design, Stockholm 2002, p. 141.5. Magnus Silfverhielm’s notes about the Spika shelves. Nationalmuseum Archives, supplementary information NMK 16/2017.6. Cilla Robach, “Den goda smaken”, in Signums svenska konsthistoria. Konsten 1915–1950, Lund 2002, pp. 315–328.7. The issue of buy-use-dispose was debated on television in 1961, thus reaching a wide audience. Cilla Robach, Formens frigörelse. Konsthantverk och design under debatt, diss., Uppsala University 2010, pp. 207–210.8. Lena Larsson, “Köp-slit-släng: Några funderingar kring ett slitstarkt ämne”, Form 7–8/1960, pp. 448–452.9. Cilla Robach, Svenska möbler under femhundra år, Stockholm 2008, p. 308.10. Robach 2008, pp. 300–301.11. Robach 2010, p. 284.12. Dan Gordan, Svenska stolar, Stockholm 2014, p. 262.

denim. Tajt was launched by IKEA in1973, when it featured on the cover of the company catalogue (Fig. 4).12

With the important acquisitions of Spika and Tajt, the Nationalmuseum is delighted to be able to boost its collection of innovative design from the years around 1970. Notes:1. “Spika. En stor möbelidé till lågpris”, KF Interiör, Hörlénreklam Osby, 1972. Nationalmuseum Archives, supplementary information NMK 16/2017.2. Magnus Silfverhielm was an apprentice at the Erik Karlström architects’ office 1966–70. Nationalmuseum Archives, supplementary information NMK 16/2017.3. Magnus Silfverhielm, “Om SPIKA hyllan”, unpublished notes 11 April 2018, Nationalmuseum Archives, supplementary information NMK 16/2017.

ACQUISITIONS/ SPIKA AND TAJT – ALTERNATIVE FURNITURE FOR A YOUNG GENERATION

robe. The furniture was a consumable; the idea was that it would be so cheap that a new one could be purchased if one broke. However, a repair kit was included. The same year, Gip also launched an octagonal bunkbed called P-Sängen, also called “play furniture for adults”.11

In the autumn of 2017, the National-museum acquired another piece of furniture that reflects the period’s freer approach to home interior design. Thanks to funding from the Ulla and Gunnar Trygg Fund, Gillis Lundgren’s sit-lie-recline furnishing, Tajt, is included in the museum’s collections (Fig. 3). Like Spika, Blow-Up and Laban, Tajt radiates ease. This low, stuffed piece of furniture can easily be transformed from a chair to a recliner or bed. It has two quadratic cushions and a round backrest clad in

Fig. 5 The cover of the IKEA catalogue 1973.