Operated by the Calgary Contemporary Arts Society

Fragile But Strong & Glass-Art-Function
October 12 - November 17, 2000

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Introduction

Functionalism and Beyond
Contemporary Glass and Ceramics of Finland

Fragile But Strong
Works by Brita Flander and Elina Sorainen

Glass-Art-Function
Post-Modernist Glass of Finland

Iittala Glass
Alvar Aalto
Aino Aalto
Tapio Wirkkala
Timo Sarpaneva
Kaj Franck
Markku Salo
Harri Koskinen

Alvar Aalto, brought international attention to Finnish modern glass.

GLASS - ART - FUNCTION
POST-MODERNIST GLASS OF FINLAND

AINO MARSIO AALTO (1894 - 1949)

Aino Marsio received her architect's degree in 1920 from what is now the Helsinki University of Technology and afterwards worked in the office of Oiva Kallio. In 1923 she joined the office of Alvar Aalto, who she married in 1924. Like the results of the relationship between Charles Eames and Ray Eames, the respective areas of collaboration in the subsequent work of the Aalto office are often difficult to distinguish. Nevertheless, Aino Aalto specialized in interior design and pursued projects independent of her husband - including a prize-winning design for household pressed glassware that was first produced by Karhula-Iittala in 1934 and has recently been reissued. Aino Aalto was a partner in the firm of Artek, founded to produce and distribute the office's product designs, and served as its managing director from 1941 until her death in 1949.

KARHULA-IITTALA GLASS SERVICE (1932)

Inexpensive and sturdy, this pressed glass service was designed by the architect Aino Marsio Aalto in simple, disciplined, ribbed forms to hide imperfections in the lower quality material. Intended as standard everyday ware for the domestic market and praised by art critics for its aesthetic simplicity, this service, along with the series of vases designed by her husband, Alvar Aalto, brought international attention to Finnish modern glass. At the same time it answered the social concerns of functional practicality and appropriate cost that Aalto shared with other progressive designers in the Depression years of the 1930s. Aalto's service won Second Prize in the pressed-glass section of a competition sponsored by Karhula-Iittala glassworks in 1932, one of several the firm held to promote modern design for decorative and utility glassware. The line, which entered production in 1934, included jug, tumbler, sugar bowl, creamer, shallow dishes, and bowls in different sizes. It was awarded a Gold Medal when it was shown at the VI Triennale in Milan in 1936.

Information for the art shown above:

• Aino Aalto, Karhula - Littala Glass Set, Colored pressed glass