Ulmus

Ulmus bears all the trademarks of Finnish-Swedish textile designer Viola Gråsten: graphic punch, natural motifs, cheerful bright colors. Gråsten’s bold color sensibility was established early on in her career in the late 1930s. By the 1950s, when she worked as a textile designer for Swedish department store Nordiska Companiet (literally “The Nordic Company”), she was famous for her “Gråsten-colors.” The dominance of the tree, constructed of simplified lines and unusual colors in Ulmus, gives the textile an unmistakably modern quality. This particular length of fabric was probably used as a curtain or room divider.