One Stylish Retrospective.

We were excited to learn that R 20th Century has announced the opening of the first major museum retrospective of work by Swedish-American designer and architect Greta Magnusson Grossman. This exhibition was curated by Arkitekturmuseet's Karin Aberg Waern and R 20th Century's Evan Snyderman. Grossman (1906-1999) maintained a prolific forty-year career on two continents, Europe and North America, with achievements in industrial design, interior design and architecture. She produced work for many different companies, but the work she did for Glenn of California is arguably her most sophisticated and best known. These pieces were characterized by the materials she used, such as rich, colorful textiles and woods like California walnut paired in surprising and elegant combination with black plastic laminate and wrought iron. The uniquely petite proportions and asymmetrical lines of her furniture also set her work apart.

This elegant, pared down decor was based on her belief that, "modern furniture is a growth, progressing out of the needs of contemporary living. It's not a superimposed style, but an answer to our present conditions...It has developed out of our preferences for living in a modern way."

The show opens February 10th in Stockholm, Sweden and runs through May 16th, 2010. For more information, you can visit the Arkitekturmuseet website or email Lily Kane or call 212-343-7979. We have no doubt this will be an incredible show and we're hoping maybe R will have some sort of book here in the states for those of us that won't be able to see this retrospective in person. (photos by Sherry Griffin for R 20th Century).