Josef Frank Furniture
Austrian architect and furniture and fabric designer Josef Frank was a leading voice for a gentle, humane modernism. His advocacy of warm, comfortable, eclectically styled environments was highly influential in his adopted country of Sweden, and it’s now widely regarded as a harbinger of the backlash against doctrinaire modernism and the embrace of the homespun that occurred in the late 1960s.
The son of a successful Viennese textile manufacturer, Frank studied architecture at Vienna University of Technology, graduating in 1910. From the first years of his practice, he marched counter to the orderly, symmetrical architectural layouts and decors prescribed by contemporaries such as Adolf Loos.
Frank drafted rooms of varying shapes and called for flexible interior-design arrangements. His furniture pieces are light and easy to move — and his chairs are always made of wood, most often with lushly curved steam-bent arms and slatted backs. Frank openly loathed the tubular steel furnishings and “machine for living” aesthetic promoted by Le Corbusier and Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and other Bauhaus principals. “The home must not be a mere efficient machine,” Frank once said. “It must offer comfort, rest and coziness…. There are no puritan principles in good interior decoration.”
Frank — who was Jewish — sensed the dire implications of the rise of Nazism in Germany and Austria, and in 1933 he moved to Stockholm with his Swedish wife, Anna. He became the design chief for the furnishings maker Svenskt Tenn and found a perfect match culturally for his brand of simple, relaxed and bright creations. Like many modernists — notably Charles and Ray Eames and Alexander Girard — Frank had a deep love of folk art, which influenced his designs for a wide array of colorful, richly patterned upholstery fabrics, many based on the classic “Tree of Life” motif.
In all his designs, Frank took inspiration from a broad variety of sources. In his furniture, one can discern traces of Asian patterns, Rococo, Italian Renaissance, Scandinavian handicrafts and even Chippendale pieces. As such, the work of Frank — the friendly modernist — is at home in any type of décor.
Find vintage Josef Frank pillows, armchairs, floor lamps and other furniture on 1stDibs.
1950s Swedish Art Deco Vintage Josef Frank Furniture
Brass
Mid-20th Century Swedish Mid-Century Modern Josef Frank Furniture
Brass
Mid-20th Century Swedish Mid-Century Modern Josef Frank Furniture
Brass
1950s Swedish Scandinavian Modern Vintage Josef Frank Furniture
Marble
1940s Swedish Scandinavian Modern Vintage Josef Frank Furniture
Elm, Walnut
1960s Swedish Mid-Century Modern Vintage Josef Frank Furniture
Brass
Early 20th Century Danish Scandinavian Modern Josef Frank Furniture
Fabric, Wood
Mid-20th Century Czech Mid-Century Modern Josef Frank Furniture
Cane, Beech, Bentwood
1960s Swedish Scandinavian Modern Vintage Josef Frank Furniture
Brass
Mid-20th Century Swedish Mid-Century Modern Josef Frank Furniture
Metal, Brass, Iron
1940s Austrian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Josef Frank Furniture
Brass, Metal
20th Century Austrian Josef Frank Furniture
Brass
1950s Swedish Mid-Century Modern Vintage Josef Frank Furniture
Brass
1950s Swedish Mid-Century Modern Vintage Josef Frank Furniture
Metal
Mid-20th Century Scandinavian Mid-Century Modern Josef Frank Furniture
Wool
1940s Swedish Mid-Century Modern Vintage Josef Frank Furniture
Metal, Brass
1940s Swedish Mid-Century Modern Vintage Josef Frank Furniture
Brass
1950s Swedish Mid-Century Modern Vintage Josef Frank Furniture
Brass
1940s Austrian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Josef Frank Furniture
Brass
1950s Swedish Mid-Century Modern Vintage Josef Frank Furniture
Brass
Mid-20th Century Swedish Mid-Century Modern Josef Frank Furniture
Metal, Brass
1950s Swedish Scandinavian Modern Vintage Josef Frank Furniture
Brass
Mid-20th Century Czech Vienna Secession Josef Frank Furniture
Beech, Bentwood
Mid-20th Century Swedish Mid-Century Modern Josef Frank Furniture
Leather, Fabric
1950s Swedish Scandinavian Modern Vintage Josef Frank Furniture
Brass
1960s Swedish Mid-Century Modern Vintage Josef Frank Furniture
Brass
2010s Austrian Jugendstil Josef Frank Furniture
Brass
1950s Swedish Mid-Century Modern Vintage Josef Frank Furniture
Rattan, Mahogany
1950s Swedish Mid-Century Modern Vintage Josef Frank Furniture
Brass
1950s Swedish Mid-Century Modern Vintage Josef Frank Furniture
Brass
Mid-20th Century Swedish Mid-Century Modern Josef Frank Furniture
Metal
Early 20th Century Swedish Mid-Century Modern Josef Frank Furniture
Metal, Brass
1940s Swedish Scandinavian Modern Vintage Josef Frank Furniture
Brass
20th Century Polish Josef Frank Furniture
Beech
1950s Swedish Scandinavian Modern Vintage Josef Frank Furniture
Brass
1940s Swedish Scandinavian Modern Vintage Josef Frank Furniture
Brass
1940s Swedish Art Deco Vintage Josef Frank Furniture
Brass
1920s Polish Scandinavian Modern Vintage Josef Frank Furniture
Cane, Birch
Mid-20th Century Swedish Mid-Century Modern Josef Frank Furniture
Mahogany
Mid-20th Century Swedish Mid-Century Modern Josef Frank Furniture
Brass, Metal
Mid-20th Century Swedish Mid-Century Modern Josef Frank Furniture
Brass
Mid-20th Century Swedish Mid-Century Modern Josef Frank Furniture
Metal, Brass
1940s Swedish Scandinavian Modern Vintage Josef Frank Furniture
Brass
1950s Swedish Mid-Century Modern Vintage Josef Frank Furniture
Brass
Mid-20th Century Swedish Mid-Century Modern Josef Frank Furniture
Metal, Brass
Mid-20th Century Swedish Mid-Century Modern Josef Frank Furniture
Brass
1950s Swedish Mid-Century Modern Vintage Josef Frank Furniture
Brass
1940s Swedish Scandinavian Modern Vintage Josef Frank Furniture
Metal, Brass
1930s Swedish Scandinavian Modern Vintage Josef Frank Furniture
Brass
Mid-20th Century Swedish Scandinavian Modern Josef Frank Furniture
Fabric, Mahogany
1950s Swedish Mid-Century Modern Vintage Josef Frank Furniture
Brass
Mid-20th Century Swedish Mid-Century Modern Josef Frank Furniture
Leather, Mahogany
1950s Swedish Mid-Century Modern Vintage Josef Frank Furniture
Brass
1960s Swedish Scandinavian Modern Vintage Josef Frank Furniture
Brass
1950s Swedish Scandinavian Modern Vintage Josef Frank Furniture
Mahogany, Glass, Mirror
1950s Swedish Mid-Century Modern Vintage Josef Frank Furniture
Brass
1930s Swedish Scandinavian Modern Vintage Josef Frank Furniture
Brass
1930s Austrian Art Deco Vintage Josef Frank Furniture
Walnut, Spruce