‎

REQUEST PRICE HERE

Price category: 9,000 - 12,500 usd / eur

‎

Greta Magnusson Grossman’s 1947 design, the “Gräshoppa” or the “G-33” model is among the most recognisable and known floor lamps of Scandinavian Modernism. Its signature appearance is based on the backwards-tilted tripod base and the simplistic bullet shape of the shade. This lamp is from the original production by Bergboms.

Lithe, charismatic and distinctly functional, this Gräshoppa — or Grasshopper — lamp demonstrates Swedish/American architect and designer, Greta Magnusson-Grossman’s keen eye and mastery of quiet drama. Easy to incorporate into any space with its graceful, slender shape, the Grasshopper boasts an elongated shade on an articulating bulb stem, which allows a user to direct light without a spotlight effect.

This original Grasshopper features a black-enamelled steel frame and an aluminium shade. The black enamel exterior and a white interior is designed to better reflect light. By the time she designed the lamp, Magnusson-Grossman had already cemented her legacy as a leading modern maker, whose dual ties to Scandinavian and American design equipped her with a unique perspective.

The designer decorated more than a dozen Los Angeles homes, which were frequently photographed for magazines like Art & Architecture. The houses were outfitted with Magnusson-Grossman’s designs — the Grasshopper being a frequent fixture.

The manufacturer, Bergboms, was a prominent Swedish lighting firm which manufactured both own designs and those of international designers such as Bernard Schottlander and Greta Magnusson-Grossman. Bergboms was founded by Efraim Ljung, who also founded Ljungs industrier, subsequently DUX. This lamp is stamped inside “G-33 Bergbom”. ~H.

Condition:
In good vintage condition. Wear consistent with age and use. Some scratches and minor dents.

Dimensions:

14.17 in W x 14.56 in D x 48.81 in H

36 cm W x 37 cm D x 124 cm H

Literature:

Evan Snyderman and Karin Åberg Wærn, eds., Greta Magnusson-Grossman—A Car and Some Shorts: One Architect’s Journey from Sweden to Southern California, Stockholm, 2010, pp. 36, 43, 74-75, 81, 148.

Greta Magnusson Grossman. New York, New York: R20th Century Design. September 26, 2000.

About the designer:

Greta Magnusson-Grossman (July 21, 1906 – August 1999) was a Swedish furniture designer, interior designer, and architect. She was one of the few female designers to gain prominence during the mid-20th century architectural scene in Los Angeles. Her early exposure to European Modernism deeply influenced her later architectural work, seen as a synthesis of European ideals and the culture and lifestyle of Southern California.

Magnusson descended from a family of Swedish cabinetmakers, and was a woodworking apprentice at furniture manufacturer, Kärnans in Helsingborg after she graduated from Ebba Lundbergs Högre. During her apprenticeship in Helsingborg, she was the only female in the workshop. Grossman recognized the drawbacks of being a female artist and stated that she felt she had, "to be a step ahead or else". In 1928, Magnusson went on to study Furniture Design at Konstfack in Stockholm. She later studied architecture at the Royal Academy of Technology in Stockholm.

In 1933, she won the Furniture Design award from the Swedish Society of Industrial Design, becoming the first woman to win the award. That same year, she married the British jazz musician and band leader Billy Grossman in 1933. In the same year, Grossman was awarded second prize in the "Combination Furniture" category of a furniture competition sponsored by the Stockholm Craft Association and become the first woman ever to win in the competition.

Greta Magnusson-Grossman established in the early 1930s her own firm "Studio" at Stureplan in Stockholm. There, she designed and produced furniture and accessories. In 1940, in the midst of World War II, she left Sweden and moved with her husband to Los Angeles where they opened the Magnussen-Grossman Studio on Rodeo Drive.

Her furniture is characterized by its unique mixture of materials and slender proportions. Her work attracted Hollywood clientele, and she designed interiors for stars such as Greta Garbo and Ingrid Bergman. In 1950, MoMa awarded Grossman with the Good Design award for her Cobra lamp. Grossman was a professor and lecturer at UCLA in Furniture Design between 1957 and 1963. In the late 1960s, Grossman retired from design and architecture.