The Modern Furniture Designs of Greta Magnusson Grossman!

We sure profile a lot of men on the Swank Lighting blog. We’re not sexist; there were a lot of men who made great impacts on the world of the design. But that doesn’t mean there weren’t any women making huge impacts. She might not be as well-known as say, Eames, but Greta Magnusson Grossman made an impact on the design world!

On the surface, glancing at Grossman’s furniture pieces just look like many of the modern designs coming from that time. Beautiful curves, sleek lines and minimalist approaches. But there were many elements that helped make Grossman stand apart from the rest, like the colorful textiles she often incorporated, the rich woods like California walnut, and other materials like black laminate, iron, stainless steel and more.

She also had interesting designs revolving around proportions, often throwing in a uniquely “off” proportion of a certain piece of a furniture item, like a back or an arm, which would give the piece a unique feeling. Though other designers were doing it at the time a little bit, the way she incorporated subtle, asymmetrical lines in her furniture pieces was somehow different than how others were doing it.

Though her pieces are just as gender neutral as any other designer’s work, there are some things that just make you feel like a woman may have lent her hand to the design. Nothing really nameable, just a lightness, a petite sort of feeling, a softness to her work. We’re also huge fans of some of her floor lamps she created, with big, industrial tops and thin, tripod legs in fun colors.

So what made Grossman such a huge success and impactful designer? Well being from the birthplace of Swedish modernism didn’t hurt. Born in Sweden in 1906, at a time when many women were starting families or staying at home, she was apprenticing at woodworking shops, mastering technical drawings and traveling all over Europe for inspiration. This strong past really paid off, and she became a big hit for her work in Sweden. The success followed her when she moved to the US in the 1940s. Opening up her own shop selling her designs, she would also go on to be a pretty good architect, creating 14 homes in Los Angeles. She had a total of 40 years worth of good design, and her work is lauded today for its unique look and quality.

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