Raff

c. 1950

Raff, c. 1950. Viola Gråsten (Swedish, born Finland, 1910–1994), Nordiska Kompaniet (Swedish, est. 1902). Plain weave linen, loom width, printed; overall: 97.2 x 130.8 cm (38 1/4 x 51 1/2 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, The Harold T. Clark Educational Extension Fund 1954.200 Viola Gråsten’s textile patterns often use stark abstraction and geometry, a design feature of traditional native Finnish rugs. Her textile design Raff won her a gold medal at the important 1951 Triennale in Milan. Throughout the mid-20th century Gråsten continued to design abstract patterns that were especially popular among young consumers for their modernist flair. Gråsten’s grid-patterned textiles were especially popular with young urban women in the 1950s.