Gustavsberg 200 Years – Anniversary Section at Modern Art & Design

Gustavsberg Bicentennial Section

“There has always been a fairy-tale shimmer over ceramic creation, perhaps primarily due to the excitement of the transforming power of fire, the process in the heat of the kiln, when the soft clay becomes hard, the matte glaze is transformed into a shiny shell and the color ignites in the decoration.”

In the foreword to the exhibition catalogue that was published in connection with Gustavsberg’s 150th anniversary exhibition at the Nationalmuseum in Stockholm 1975, curator Eva Nordenson romantically writes about the porcelain factory in the small harbor of Gustavsberg. As Gustavsberg now celebrates its 200th anniversary, the production from the golden age of the 20th century still has a fairy-tale shimmer about it. A contributing factor to the factory’s sustained role has been that the individual artistic efforts of industrial artists already played a brilliant role in Gustavsberg’s production at the end of the 19th century. n a curated section of this spring's major live auction Modern Art & Design, we have had the ambition to showcase how artistic efforts have been a significant element in the development of ceramic art during the 20th century. Studio goods are presented alongside sought-after serial production in this section of just over 90 lots, where some of the factory's leading designers such as Wilhelm Kåge, Berndt Friberg, Stig Lindberg and Lisa Larson are represented with several works.

Lisa Larson

Over the three decades that Lisa Larson was active at Gustavsberg, she conceived countless series of sculptures, and with them became one of Sweden’s most beloved ceramists. The jubilee section offers several rarities and unique objects, including the present sculpture of a reclining woman with a bird executed in chamotte stoneware.

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Stig Lindberg

Stig Lindberg stood for the playful, colorful and often humorous. As artistic director at Gustavsberg during two defining periods, he made a lasting impression on the factory’s output. Among the highlights of the section is the present vase, made at Gustavsberg Studio in 1966 with a pressed checkered pattern and glaze in turquoise, green and brown-beige tones.

View the catalogue