SVEINNKJARVAL

QualityIsNeveranAccident

Exhibition of works by Svein Kjarval (1919–1981) opens at the Icelandic Design Museum on Saturday, November 2 at 16. The exhibition focuses on Sveinn’s important pioneering work in Iceland in the field of furniture and interior design for two decades (1950–1970). Then there were prevailing notions of modern and sensible housing, where furniture was, above all, simple, light and convenient and made from the materials that could be enjoyed without any decoration.

Sveinn was a prolific designer of modern-style interiors for shops, restaurants and public spaces, which has largely eradicated fashion swings and new requirements over time. However, they are presented in the exhibition in contemporary photographs and preserved drawings. He was a popular interior designer and came up with designs for another hundred homes, but also drew furniture on order. Sveinn Kjarva’s furniture has withstood the test of time, but his policy has always been to maintain it “for a long time to come” and it is clear that his furniture from that time is still hidden in Icelandic homes and has contemporary appeal.

Sveinn’s furniture from the Icelandic Design Museum is the main building block of the exhibition, while the museum also enjoys the goodwill of individuals who lend works and the National Archives of Iceland on loan drawings. Sveinn usually devoted himself to the Icelandic material that existed – used almost exclusively Icelandic wool upholstery and fur on chairs and was probably one of the first to use Icelandic rock types in interior design in this country.

The exhibition is intended to support the collection goals of the Icelandic Design Museum in the field of furniture and interior design and is a contribution to the dissemination of the history of design in Iceland.