Scandinavian Geometric Design Flatweave
This Scandinavian Geometric Design Flatweave by Laila Maria Karttunen (1895-1981), who was a leading Finnish textile artist. After graduating from the Turku School of Art and Design, she initially taught at the Wetterhoff weaving school, and in the 1920s became the artistic director and designer of its weaving mill. In the early 1930s she moved to Helsinki and founded her own design firm. The foundations of her creative work are in her thorough technical knowledge of the art of weaving. Her stylistic influences are clearly rooted in the Art Deco and Bauhaus school yet paying close attention to the Scandinavian folk tradition. The present flat-woven carpet is a case at point, as it shows an abstract geometric pattern on a light camel background, the style of which is strongly reminiscent of the contemporaneous work of the German Bauhaus artist Gunta Stotzl. The relatively thick texture of the flat-woven wool fabric is also reminiscent of Bauhaus weavings and provides an ideal medium for its use as a floor covering.