TIMO SARPANEVA - Drawings, Sketches and Paintings 1943 - 1956

TEXT IN FINNISH AND ENGLISH.

Timo Sarpaneva was originally trained as a graphic designer and the student assignments from his years at the Central School of Industrial Art (1940 – 1949) have not been previously published or displayed. Less known works by him also include textile patterns and designs from the 1940s and 1950s.

Added to these are paintings and graphic design by Timo Sarpaneva from the same period, 1943 – 1956.

ISBN 978-952-9878-87-1
151 pages, paperback 
Designmuseo 2018

Timo Sarpaneva (1926-2006) was a versatile artist and designer of international renown, with a career spanning seven decades. He designed works in textiles, printed matter, plastic, cast iron, steel, porcelain, glass and silver. A method for printing paper or textile, devised by Sarpaneva, was granted an international patent. His innovative Finlandia – technique for glass items, developed at the Iittala Glassworks, had a major influence on glass design for years to come.

Success came early: Sarpaneva debuted as a painter in a young artists' exhibtion at Taidehalli, Helsinki in 1949, and won praise for his overall refinement and his particularly colourist skill . His life-long interest and occupation in glass, including mass-production, art and sculpture, was awakened when he won a second prize in an international competition for glass design, organised by the Riihimäki Glassworks in 1949.

His designs for mass production have been awarded with the Grand Prix at the Milan Triennales.

Sarpaneva received several honours for his work, including:
Pro Finlandia 1958
The first ever Doctor H.C. of Design in the world, Royal College of Art, London 1967
Honorary Professorship 1976
Academician H.C., Academia de Diseno, University of Mexico City 1985
Doctor H.C., University of Industrial Design, Helsinki 1993