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Kaisa Brita Melanton née Björklund (1920–2012) was a pioneering Swedish textile artist who is remembered in particular for the large, post-modernist works she created for local authorities, theatres and churches. She employed a variety of techniques including embroidery and weaving. From 1969 to 1979, she served as head of the textile department at Konstfack, the Swedish University of Arts, Crafts and Design, and in 1974 was elected a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Fine Arts.
Kaisa Melanton, NationalMuseum, with illustrations of her work
{{DEFAULTSORT:Melanton, Kaisa 1920 births 2012 deaths 20th-century Swedish women artists 20th-century Swedish artists 21st-century Swedish women artists 21st-century Swedish artists Swedish textile artists Swedish textile designers People from Täby Municipality Recipients of the Prince Eugen Medal Konstfack alumni Academic staff of Konstfack Swedish embroiderers
Kaisa Brita Melanton née Björklund (1920–2012) was a pioneering Swedish textile artist who is remembered in particular for the large, post-modernist works she created for local authorities, theatres and churches. She employed a variety of techniques including embroidery and weaving. From 1969 to 1979, she served as head of the textile department at Konstfack, the Swedish University of Arts, Crafts and Design, and in 1974 was elected a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Fine Arts.
Early life and education
Born on 1 January 1920 inStockholm
Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...
, Kaisa Brita Björklund was the daughter of the engineer Erik Einar Björklund and his wife Estrid Birgitta Nikolina née Larsson. She was brought up in the middle-class suburb of Täby where she was introduced to weaving by her maternal grandmother.
When she was 18, she spent a year training as a art teacher at Konstfack but then transferred to courses in textiles under Barbro Nilsson
Barbro Nilsson née Lundberg (1899–1983) was a Swedish textile artist who is remembered in particular for her large tapestries, including the one she produced in collaboration with Sven Erixson for the Gothenburg Concert Hall in 1939. She was ...
(1899–1983), graduating in 1943. She married fellow student Erland Melanton who became a drawing teacher in Örnsköldsvik. The family spent a number of years there before returning to Stockholm. They had four children together: Lotta, Stina, Jörgen and Johan.
Career
Kaisa Melanton began working with Handarbetets Vänner in the early 1950s, collaborating on the Russian weave technique to produce ''Blå eld'' (1963) for the theatre and library in Eskilstuna and the enormous ''Vandring i Solnaskogen'' tapestry (1965) for the city hall in Solna. She went on to design the ''Det fria ordet'' triptych, inspired by summer on the island of Öland. In 1969, Melanton succeeded Edna Martin as the head textile teacher at Konstfack where she remained for ten years. In parallel, she worked for theBåstad
BÃ¥stad () is a Urban areas in Sweden, locality and the seat of BÃ¥stad Municipality, Scania County, Sweden, with approximately 5,000 permanent residents. It is however one of Sweden's most typical summer resorts. The population is presumably more ...
textile company, Märta Måås-Fjetterström AB.
Throughout her life, she created works for churches and municipal authorities. In particular, commissioned by the arts council Statens Konstråd, she created a series of works for the Swedish Enforcement Authority
The Swedish Enforcement Authority ( sv, Kronofogdemyndigheten; literally: ''The Crown Bailiff Authority'') is a government agency in charge of debt collection, distraint, evictions, and the enforcement of court orders in Sweden. The authority als ...
which can now be seen in Stockholm's National Museum of Fine Arts. They were produced in a variety of techniques including application, embroidery and weaving. In 1974, she was elected a member of the Royal Swedish Academy. She continued to be active in later life, producing a number of works for the Stockholm Concert Hall in 2002. In 1980, she was awarded the Prince Eugen Medal.
Kaisa Melanton died in Stockholm on 12 November 2012.
References
Further reading
*External links
Kaisa Melanton, NationalMuseum, with illustrations of her work
{{DEFAULTSORT:Melanton, Kaisa 1920 births 2012 deaths 20th-century Swedish women artists 20th-century Swedish artists 21st-century Swedish women artists 21st-century Swedish artists Swedish textile artists Swedish textile designers People from Täby Municipality Recipients of the Prince Eugen Medal Konstfack alumni Academic staff of Konstfack Swedish embroiderers