UNO AHRÉN, DESIGNER, MANUFACTURED BY A.B. MOBILIA I MALMÖ, MALMÖ, SWEDEN, CIRCA 1927

Details

AN INLAID MAHOGANY SECRETAIRE
Uno Ahrén, Designer, Manufactured by A.B. Mobilia I Malmö, Malmö, Sweden, circa 1927
decorated with stylized images of the Garden of Eden
80in. (203.2cm.) high, 36in. (91.4cm.) wide, 22 3/8in. (56.8cm.) deep
with metal tag AKTIE BOLAGET/MOBILIA/I MALMO and branded SWEDEN, also with dated museum paper label THE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO SHIPPING ROOM CONDITION OF CONTENTS

Literature

Exhibition of Swedish Contemporary Decorative Arts catalogue, 1927, see p. 6 for citation of the cabinet: Furniture/A.B. MOBILIA I. MALMÖ, MALMÖ/Manager C.G. Nordberg. 8. Cabinet in inlaid work. Designer: Uno Ahrén.

Exhibited

Chicago, Illinois, The Art Institute of Chicago, Exhibition of Swedish Contemporary Decorative Arts, August 9-October 14, 1927

Lot Essay

Uno Ahrén (1897-1977) was among the pioneers introducing modernist concepts to Sweden in the 1920s. An architect and furniture designer from Sweden, he was credited with influencing the development of the Swedish Modern style. In 1925 Ahrén attended the Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Moderne, Paris, and commented on the overall presentation of the exhibition: "Forms, forms, forms..." "The real hall-mark of modernity is to give practical things an artistic form without the 'artistic' being obtrusive..." Ahrén was a great admirer of Le Corbusier and Pierre Jeanneret's L'Esprit Nouveau building in the Exposition.

The Mobilia factory was located in Malmö, Sweden. The initials A.B. (Aktie Bolaget) are equivalent to the American application of INC or LTD following the name of a company.

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