Viola Hildegard Gråsten (born Viola Hildegard Forsberg) (18 November 1910 – 20 October 1994) was a Swedish
textile designer
Textile is an umbrella term that includes various fiber-based materials, including fibers, yarns, filaments, threads, different fabric types, etc. At first, the word "textiles" only referred to woven fabrics. However, weaving is not the ...
.
Gråsten was born in
Keuruu in
Häme,
Finland and was brought up as a foster daughter by the Finnish Finance Minister, Ernst Gråsten. She studied for four years at the Central School of Crafts in Helsinki until 1936, after which she worked as a designer at the
Friends of Finnish Handicraft The Friends of Finnish Handicraft ( fi, Suomen käsityön ystävät, sv, Finska handarbetets vänner) is a Finnish association for the promotion and creation of textile art.
History and activity
The association was founded in 1879 by Fanny Churber ...
. In 1944, because of wartime yarn shortages in Finland, she moved to Sweden and designed shaggy rugs for Textiles & Interiors in Stockholm. A year later she took a post at the
NK Textile Studio, where she began to design patterns for textiles and made a reputation for her colourful geometric designs. In 1956 she became artistic director of fashion textiles at Mölnlycke Weavers, where she stayed until her retirement in 1973.
Gråsten was awarded the
Prince Eugen Medal for design in 1973.
Gallery
Etikett Tidstrand röd Snark.jpg, A blanket from Tidstrand's Wool Factories designed by Viola Gråsten.
Modebild från Nordiska Kompaniet. Viola Gråsten, utställning - Nordiska museet - NMA.0043054.jpg, Viola Gråsten's pattern on a dress from around 1955.
References
Further reading
*
External links
Works in the Design Arkivet database(in Swedish)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Grasten, Viola
1910 births
1994 deaths
20th-century Swedish women artists
20th-century Swedish artists
20th-century Finnish women artists
20th-century women textile artists
20th-century textile artists
Swedish weavers
Textile designers
Recipients of the Prince Eugen Medal
Finnish emigrants to Sweden