Axel Einar Hjorth Asian Art and Furniture
Swedish furniture designer Axel Einar Hjorth created tables, chairs, cabinets and other pieces that were as elegant as they were functional, and he frequently worked in references to a litany of inspirations including French Art Deco, Gustavian style and modernism. Ahead of his time, his style was refined and daringly simple.
Born in Krokek, Sweden, Hjorth grew up in a foster family and at 20 moved to Stockholm where he studied architecture and design at the Högre Konstindustriella Skolan (now the University of Arts, Crafts & Design). Although he dropped out when his foster father died, he went on to work for some of the largest furniture manufacturers in Sweden during the 1920s.
Hjorth’s work was featured in the 1923 Gothenburg Exhibition world’s fair, and he exhibited a birch and cherry cabinet in the 1927 “Swedish Contemporary Decorative Arts” exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. His role as the head of the furniture department at Nordiska Kompaniet (NK), an upscale department store in Stockholm, from 1927 to 1938, further brought his designs to widespread acclaim, including pieces exhibited at the 1929 Barcelona International Exposition.
At the 1930 Stockholm Exhibition, an influential event in the emergence of functionalism in Swedish design, Hjorth exhibited a dozen room settings that featured examples of sportstugemöbler. These furniture lines were named for islands in Sweden’s archipelago — Utö, Blidö and Torö — with designs intended for cabins and vacation homes. The use of solid Swedish pine in these pieces revealed a love of traditional rustic furniture while the simple forms boldly looked to the future. He also brought his eclectic influences to armchairs formed from tubular metal, blocky case pieces made from birch and upholstered sofas with neoclassical details, each exuberantly mixing form and function.
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Mid-20th Century European Mid-Century Modern Axel Einar Hjorth Asian Art and Furniture
Pine
Mid-20th Century Swedish Mid-Century Modern Axel Einar Hjorth Asian Art and Furniture
Pine
1930s Swedish Scandinavian Modern Vintage Axel Einar Hjorth Asian Art and Furniture
Pine
1960s Mid-Century Modern Vintage Axel Einar Hjorth Asian Art and Furniture
Rattan, Beech
Early 1800s Chinese Qing Antique Axel Einar Hjorth Asian Art and Furniture
Elm
21st Century and Contemporary American Adirondack Axel Einar Hjorth Asian Art and Furniture
Wood
21st Century and Contemporary American Adirondack Axel Einar Hjorth Asian Art and Furniture
Wood
1930s Japanese Japonisme Vintage Axel Einar Hjorth Asian Art and Furniture
Bamboo
1960s Mid-Century Modern Vintage Axel Einar Hjorth Asian Art and Furniture
Jacaranda
2010s French Anglo-Indian Axel Einar Hjorth Asian Art and Furniture
Wood
1950s Mid-Century Modern Vintage Axel Einar Hjorth Asian Art and Furniture
Oak, Teak
1960s Japanese Mid-Century Modern Vintage Axel Einar Hjorth Asian Art and Furniture
Teak, Plywood
2010s Japanese Primitive Axel Einar Hjorth Asian Art and Furniture
Wood
Late 19th Century Chinese Chinese Export Antique Axel Einar Hjorth Asian Art and Furniture
Beech
19th Century Indian Rustic Antique Axel Einar Hjorth Asian Art and Furniture
Wood
1930s Swedish Mid-Century Modern Vintage Axel Einar Hjorth Asian Art and Furniture
Pine