Carl Malmsten Seating
Carl Malmsten, a prominent furniture designer and educator associated with Swedish modernism, enjoyed immense popularity for his shapely sofas and armchairs in luscious color palettes. Malmsten believed that light — much like our eyes and bodies — doesn’t like to bump into sharp objects. Smooth edges, on the other hand, are kinder to the eye and and to our touch, and allow light to softly bounce off surfaces. Malmsten felt that if his furniture didn’t “serve well” in the home, it had no business being there.
Malmsten’s career essentially began in 1915, when his submissions for a competition to furnish the new Stockholm City Hall were first- and second-place prize winners. In the 1920s, his profile soared. He won a prize at the International Exhibition of Modern Decorative and Industrial Arts — the show that brought the Art Deco style to worldwide attention — and quickly became one of the most sought-after designers of commercial seating in Sweden.
Malmsten was soon contracted to design chairs, tables and other furniture for the Stockholm Concert Hall, the Swedish Institute in Rome and the Waldorf Astoria hotel in New York. His famous Art Nouveau-influenced Stadshusstolen chair, designed for Stockholm City Hall in 1916, is a highlight of the city’s recently opened Museum of Furniture Studies. Malmsten expanded into interior design and created a luxurious, well-appointed living room in the palace of then-Crown Prince Gustaf Adolf and his bride, Crown Princess Louise.
In the 1930s, Malmsten clashed with critics when he voiced his opposition to functionalism. Like Danish modernist Kaare Klint, he favored using quality local materials and prized traditional craftsmanship. Malmsten’s furniture draws on graceful neoclassical influences, and he said that extreme functionalism contributed to “sterile” interiors — while the curving contours of his work may share ground with furniture designed by Alvar Aalto or Bruno Mathsson, Malmsten differed with Bauhaus eminences and some Scandinavian modernists on their prioritization of functionalism.
For an exhibition in 1956 at the Röhsska Museum in Gothenburg, Malmsten designed furniture that was intended for mass production — and his striking designs began to make their way into middle-class Swedish homes owing to Malmsten’s partnerships with manufacturers such as O.H. Sjögren. Until then, he had built his pieces at the school he founded in the 1930s or had them made by artisans at several small local workshops.
Malmsten founded a number of schools for design and collaborated with other designers who shared his philosophy of “hand and mind in creative collaboration.” These included the esteemed textile artist Märta Måås Fjetterström, whose pieces he included in exhibits and even his own home.
On 1stDibs, find vintage Carl Malmsten seating, tables, cabinets and more.
Mid-20th Century Swedish Scandinavian Modern Carl Malmsten Seating
Fabric, Wood
1950s Swedish Scandinavian Modern Vintage Carl Malmsten Seating
Sheepskin
20th Century Swedish Scandinavian Modern Carl Malmsten Seating
Pine, Fabric
1950s Swedish Scandinavian Modern Vintage Carl Malmsten Seating
Wool, Beech
1960s Swedish Scandinavian Modern Vintage Carl Malmsten Seating
Pine
1950s Scandinavian Scandinavian Modern Vintage Carl Malmsten Seating
Bouclé, Beech
Mid-20th Century Swedish Scandinavian Modern Carl Malmsten Seating
Fabric, Upholstery, Beech
Mid-20th Century Swedish Mid-Century Modern Carl Malmsten Seating
Fabric, Wood
1960s Swedish Scandinavian Modern Vintage Carl Malmsten Seating
Pine, Lambskin, Birch
1950s Swedish Scandinavian Modern Vintage Carl Malmsten Seating
Fabric, Wood
1940s Swedish Mid-Century Modern Vintage Carl Malmsten Seating
Velvet, Oak
1960s Swedish Mid-Century Modern Vintage Carl Malmsten Seating
Wool, Beech, Oak
1960s Swedish Mid-Century Modern Vintage Carl Malmsten Seating
Bouclé, Wood
1950s Swedish Scandinavian Modern Vintage Carl Malmsten Seating
Wool, Cotton, Beech
1960s Swedish Mid-Century Modern Vintage Carl Malmsten Seating
Bouclé, Beech
1950s Swedish Scandinavian Modern Vintage Carl Malmsten Seating
Fabric, Beech
1960s Swedish Mid-Century Modern Vintage Carl Malmsten Seating
Bouclé, Wood
1950s Swedish Vintage Carl Malmsten Seating
Fabric, Beech
1950s Swedish Vintage Carl Malmsten Seating
Fabric, Birch
1960s Swedish Mid-Century Modern Vintage Carl Malmsten Seating
Leather, Fabric, Wood
20th Century Swedish Scandinavian Modern Carl Malmsten Seating
Upholstery, Beech
Early 20th Century Swedish Art Deco Carl Malmsten Seating
Fabric
1950s Scandinavian Scandinavian Modern Vintage Carl Malmsten Seating
Bouclé, Beech
Mid-20th Century Swedish Scandinavian Modern Carl Malmsten Seating
Fabric, Oak, Pine
1940s Swedish Scandinavian Modern Vintage Carl Malmsten Seating
Pine
1950s Swedish Vintage Carl Malmsten Seating
Fabric, Oak
20th Century Swedish Mid-Century Modern Carl Malmsten Seating
Fabric, Wood
Mid-20th Century Swedish Scandinavian Modern Carl Malmsten Seating
Sheepskin, Beech
Late 20th Century Swedish Mid-Century Modern Carl Malmsten Seating
Fabric, Wood
1970s Swedish Mid-Century Modern Vintage Carl Malmsten Seating
Velvet, Birch
Early 20th Century Swedish Mid-Century Modern Carl Malmsten Seating
Fabric, Cotton, Upholstery, Beech
1950s Swedish Scandinavian Modern Vintage Carl Malmsten Seating
Bouclé, Elm
Mid-20th Century Swedish Scandinavian Modern Carl Malmsten Seating
Pine
1950s Swedish Scandinavian Modern Vintage Carl Malmsten Seating
Cane, Oak
1960s Swedish Mid-Century Modern Vintage Carl Malmsten Seating
Bouclé, Beech
1960s Swedish Mid-Century Modern Vintage Carl Malmsten Seating
Bouclé, Wood
1960s Swedish Mid-Century Modern Vintage Carl Malmsten Seating
Bouclé, Wood
1960s Swedish Scandinavian Modern Vintage Carl Malmsten Seating
Wood
1950s Swedish Scandinavian Modern Vintage Carl Malmsten Seating
Sheepskin, Birch
Mid-20th Century Swedish Mid-Century Modern Carl Malmsten Seating
Fabric, Cotton, Upholstery, Beech
Mid-20th Century Swedish Scandinavian Modern Carl Malmsten Seating
Sheepskin, Wood
Mid-20th Century Swedish Scandinavian Modern Carl Malmsten Seating
Fabric, Pine
1950s Swedish Mid-Century Modern Vintage Carl Malmsten Seating
Fabric, Wood
Mid-20th Century Swedish Scandinavian Modern Carl Malmsten Seating
Sheepskin, Wood
1950s Swedish Scandinavian Modern Vintage Carl Malmsten Seating
Sheepskin
1950s Swedish Scandinavian Modern Vintage Carl Malmsten Seating
Pine
1940s Swedish Mid-Century Modern Vintage Carl Malmsten Seating
Pine
1960s Swedish Mid-Century Modern Vintage Carl Malmsten Seating
Pine
1950s Swedish Mid-Century Modern Vintage Carl Malmsten Seating
Bouclé, Wood
1970s Swedish Mid-Century Modern Vintage Carl Malmsten Seating
Leather, Wood
1950s Swedish Mid-Century Modern Vintage Carl Malmsten Seating
Fabric, Wood
1950s Scandinavian Scandinavian Modern Vintage Carl Malmsten Seating
Bouclé, Beech
1940s Swedish Scandinavian Modern Vintage Carl Malmsten Seating
Pine
Mid-20th Century Swedish Mid-Century Modern Carl Malmsten Seating
Fabric, Beech
1960s Swedish Scandinavian Modern Vintage Carl Malmsten Seating
Leather, Birch
1950s Swedish Scandinavian Modern Vintage Carl Malmsten Seating
Leather, Sheepskin, Pine
1920s Swedish Scandinavian Modern Vintage Carl Malmsten Seating
Upholstery
Mid-20th Century Swedish Mid-Century Modern Carl Malmsten Seating
Fabric, Beech