Illustration: Henrik Krogh. The Spruce Coppice, c1913.
The Spruce Coppice tapestry by Henrik Krogh was featured in a 1913 issue of The Studio magazine. The article dealt with contemporary Swedish tapestry work and included such artists as Gunnar Wennerberg, Nils Lundstrom, Alfred Wallander, Annie Frykholm, Helmer Osslund, Gustaf Fjaestad and Henrik Krogh.
Weaving in general and tapestry in particular have always had strong traditions in Sweden, but it is the work produced during the early twentieth century that gave Swedish tapestry work another dimension and pushed it onto the international stage whereby magazines such as The Studio, Deutsche Kunst und Dekoration and Dekorative Kunst, all of whom had a relatively extensive international following, featured the new Swedish dimension in tapestry.
Krogh's work, as with his contemporaries, showed that a large element of creative freedom had entered into the tapestry discipline. Although most of the work produced during this period in Sweden was very much based on natural landscapes, they are by no means defined picturesque views of the Swedish natural environment. A number of examples were moving into territory that reflected an emotional content, a relationship with the natural world that was not merely visual. Although this was an element that had been explored and regularly included within a fine art context for a number of years, it had been largely missing from a tapestry perspective.
To many, tapestry was not a fine art but a decorative one. It was still considered by critics at the end of the nineteenth century, to be an extension of practical weaving rather than a fully formed discipline in its own right. Although largely part of hand production, rather than the mechanised, tapestry was often merely used as another medium to reflect fine art work. For example, Edward Burne-Jones tapestry work was often a variation of already produced fine art work, or was transposed onto tapestry from the cartoon work of the artist, often without fully understanding the physical and technical details of the discipline.
This is where the Swedish contemporary interpretations of the early twentieth century diverged. By understanding the indepth procedures involved in the making of a tapestry, but also the physical parameters of the medium, compositions began to take on a different, more instinctual bearing. Krogh's tapestry in particular was designed but not woven by the artist. It was actually woven by Marta Maas-Fjetterstrom, one of Sweden's most accomplished and dynamic weavers and designers. It would not be too strong a point to say that the input of the weaver can be just as relevant to the finished piece as that of the original artist. However, with a transposed piece of artwork, the result is very much a facsimile, and tries hard to be as specific to the original as can possibly be achieved in a woven format.
Much of the design work produced for the new Swedish tapestry work of the early twentieth century appeared much less focused, more abstract and therefore more fluid in its interpretation. Krogh's piece for example does not try to hide the fact that it is woven. It bears the varied marks of human hand work with a boldness and surety that reflects the creativity and individualism of both the artist and the weaver. If both designations have to be performed by separate individuals, and sometimes tapestries were woven by the artist, both have come together in an extraordinarily fine example.
The creative synergy developed between Krogh and Maas-Fjetterstrom works so well that the piece appears both flawless and integral. The Spruce Coppice shows what can be achieved through a sympathetic understanding of the process of tapestry by the artist, but also the perception by the weaver of the artist's original conception. When this relationship between artist and maker works well it works very well indeed.
Further reading links:
SWEDISH TEXTILE ART: Traditional Marriage Weavings from Scania (The Nasser D. Khalili Collection of Swedish Textile Art)
The Big Book of Weaving: Handweaving in the Swedish Tradition: Techniques, Patterns, Designs and Materials
The Treasure Chest of Swedish Weaving
Weave Structures The Swedish Way - Volume 1
Swedish Textile Art
Tapestry Weaving: A Comprehensive Study Guide
Tapestry Handbook: The Next Generation (Schiffer Books)
Tapestry: A Woven Narrative
Demons, Yarns and Tales: Tapestries by Contemporary Artists
Gloria F. Ross and Modern Tapestry
Contemporary Tapestries From the Hurschler Collection
