Baranquilla

c. 1943–45

Baranquilla, c. 1943–45. Josef Frank (Swedish, born Austria, 1885–1967), Svenskt Tenn (Swedish, est. 1924). Plain weave bleached linen, loom width, printed; overall: 198.1 x 128 cm (78 x 50 3/8 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, The Harold T. Clark Educational Extension Fund 1954.201 Though designed by Josef Frank for the Swedish interior design firm Svenskt Tenn, Baranquilla reflects the landscape and culture of South America through the use of bright colors and imaginative plants. The excellent arrangement of vines, fruit, flowers, and leaves on a black background suggests a dense rain forest at night. The sinuous vines in this pattern wind around like the Barranquilla River in Columbia, from which the pattern derives its name.