Loja Saarinen (March 15, 1879 – April 21, 1968) was a

Finnish-American Finnish Americans ( fi, amerikansuomalaiset, ) comprise Americans with ancestral roots from Finland or Finnish people who immigrated to and reside in the United States. The Finnish-American population numbers a little bit more than 650,000. Man ...

textile artist and sculptor who founded the weaving department at the Cranbrook Academy of Art in Michigan. She also led her own studio, the Studio Loja Saarinen, which designed many of the textiles used in buildings designed by her husband, the architect Eliel Saarinen.

Background

Minna Carolina Mathilde Louise "Loja" Gesellius was born March 16, 1879, in Helsinki, Finland, and studied art at the

Helsinki University of Art and Design Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the capital, primate, and most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of Uusimaa in southern Finland, and has a population of . The city's ...

(1898–99) and Drawing School of the Finnish Art Association (1899–1902), and sculpture under Jean Antoine Injalbert at the

Académie Colarossi The Académie Colarossi (1870–1930) was an art school in Paris founded in 1870 by the Italian model and sculptor Filippo Colarossi. It was originally located on the Île de la Cité, and it moved in 1879 to 10 rue de la Grande-Chaumière in the ...

in Paris.

Career

Loja Saarinen started her career in 1928 when she founded one of the most productive weaving departments in the United States at the Cranbrook Educational Community. Saarinen was heavily influenced by Swedish craft tradition. She was one of the first artists to bring Scandinavian design to America. Her most substantial work was for Kingswood School where her studio designed tapestries, rugs, curtains, and upholstery. Saarinen's work is characterized by simple geometric designs in subtle light and dark contrasts, with a frequent use of complementary colors. One-Person Exhibitions: *

Architectural League of New York The Architectural League of New York is a non-profit organization "for creative and intellectual work in architecture, urbanism, and related disciplines". The league dates from 1881, when Cass Gilbert organized meetings at the Salmagundi Club for ...

, 1931 * Detroit Institute of Arts, 1932 * Norfolk Museum of Arts and Sciences, 1937 * Cincinnati Museum of Art, 1938 * Toledo Museum of Art, 1938 * Berea College, 1943 * Jacques Seligmann Gallery, New York City 1957 (two-person) * Cranbrook Academy of Art, 1980

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saarinen, Loja 1879 births 1968 deaths Cranbrook Educational Community Artists from Helsinki Finnish emigrants to the United States American weavers Finnish textile artists Artists from Michigan American women sculptors Sculptors from Michigan Women textile artists Finnish women sculptors