Table lamp c. 1950

brass, metal, glass

brass

metal

geometric composition

glass

geometric

decorative-art

modernism

This table lamp, designed by Haj Markaryd around 1950, exemplifies Scandinavian design principles with its minimalist form and functional elegance. The lamp features a bright orange, cylindrical shade with a patterned surface and a polished brass base that adds a touch of sophistication. The lamp is a testament to the innovative and enduring spirit of mid-century design, showcasing the simple yet striking aesthetic that characterized the era. The lamp is currently housed at the Minneapolis Institute of Art.

Comments

minneapolisinstituteofart about 1 year ago

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Pre-eminent in Scandinavian lighting design is the work of Poul Henningsen from 1925 to the present (whose work is seen in this exhibition). There were, however, other isolated exponents of both the Bauhaus and the more severe aspects of French Moderne, including Swede Haj Markaryd. Functional and arresting, this table lamp can match the most avant-garde of its European counterparts in form, choice of metallic finishes and the use of a bright, transparent shade. The machine-age aestheticism is no doubt influenced by the German Bauhaus school, as some of the most fruitful artistic ideas from the Bauhaus were synthesized in Sweden in the late 1920s and presented ceremonially in the famous Stockholm Exhibition of 1930, which signaled functionalism's breakthrough in Sweden. Produced around 1950, this lamp, with its vibrant shade, also reveals the increasing importance of color highlighted in the 1930 exhibition. A lamp obviously designed for atmospheric effect as much for localized light, no effort was made to deflect light or hide the bulb.