Grete Prytz Kittelsen (born Adelgunde Margrethe Prytz, June 28, 1917, Oslo, died September 25, 2010, Oslo), was a Norwegiangoldsmith, enamel artist, and designer. She is one of the most well-known Norwegians in the Scandinavian Design movement,[1] and has been referred to as the "Queen of Scandinavian Design".[2] Through her work she contributed to internationalisation, innovation and scientific research. She was one of the few Norwegian practitioners who shaped the Scandinavian design style in the post-war era and is the periods’ most renowned Norwegian practitioner. Kittelsen's aim was to make beautiful and user-friendly everyday objects available for everyone. She had a vast and varied production. With her enamelled objects and jewellery she has been a pioneer in design in the post-war era and a model for the next generation of designers. Today her pieces constitute design icons and are sought-after collectables.
Kittelsen was born in 1917 in Kristiania to Ingerid Juel and Jakob Prytz, who was a goldsmith, and rector of the Norwegian National Academy of Craft and Art Industry (proper title: The National Academy of Art, Crafts and Design, now Oslo National Academy of the Arts).[3] She was the sister of Torolf Prytz jr. and constituted the fifth generation of the goldsmith firm J. Tostrup. The family was internationally oriented, and the firm had since its establishment in 1832 had an international profile. The founder of the firm, Jacob Ulrich Holfeldt Tostrup, had studied in Copenhagen and St. Petersburg. His son Oluf Tostrup worked for a rational connection between art, crafts and industry, and was one of the driving forces when the Museum of Applied Art in Oslo was founded in 1876. Her father Jacob Prytz was director of the family firm, co-founder of Foreningen Brukskunst (The Applied Art Association) and a leading figure i the renewal of Norwegian fine crafts and design in the era between the wars. Prytz' and Juel's residence was often home to students and foreign lecturers of the academy, among them Alvar Aalto and Gregor Paulsson. Paulsson formulated the phrase "vackrare vardagsvara", which directly translates to "more beautiful everyday-product". The phrase became a slogan for the Nordic unions of applied art.
During the Second World War she had to flee to Stockholm due to her underground work. There she and her husband, Arne Korsmo, were acquainted with the Danish architects Jørn and Lis Utzon, and they established a life-long friendship.
Post-war years
After World War II Kittelsen moved back to Oslo and worked for the family business. She designed numerous works of silver, vitreous enamel and plastic, sometimes collaborating with her husband, Arne Korsmo. Kittelsen pioneered the use of large-scale manufacturing methods utilized by later industrial designers.[1] As recipient of a Fulbright grant, Kittelsen lived in the United States in 1949 and 1950, where she studied at the IIT Institute of Design.[1] Kittelsen and her husband, Arne Korsmo, traveled around the US and Mexico and met with other designers and architects, such as Frank Lloyd Wright, Ray and Charles Eames, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, Walter Gropius, James Prestini, and Edgar Kaufmann Jr., who was the director of the Industrial Design Department at the Museum of Modern Art (MOMA) in New York City. Edgar Kaufmann Jr. had visited Norway a year prior to Kittelson's travels in the US, and was then shown a plate by Kittelsen. The plate was later exhibited in MoMA. Through their travels, Kittelsen and her husband acquired a network consisting of the most prominent practitioners of the time. This made it possible to show the exhibition American Form and to arrange a seminar in industrial design at the National Academy of Art, Crafts and Design with teachers from Illinois Institute of Technology. The seminar was ground-breaking for the renewal of the contents and pedagogical methods of the school.
Coffee pot produced at Cathrineholm in Halden, Norway, ca. 1965. Design by Grete Prytz Kittelsen, pattern «Lotus» by Arne Clausen. Diameter 13 cm. Photo Anne-Lise Reinsfelt/Norsk Folkemuseum, NF.2007-0149AB.
From 1954 to 1957 she participated in the "Design in Scandinavia" exhibition, shown in several places in the United States and Canada.[2] Near the end of the 50s, her products, manufactured by Hadeland Glassverk and Cathrineholm, were commonly found in Norwegian homes.[1] "Sensasjonskasserollen" (lit. The sensation casserole) was particularly successful, with 150,000 units sold in 1964.[5] Her designs were often inspired by American art, characterized by clear, plain colours and simple shapes.[2] Kittelsen also designed informal, inexpensive jewellery made from silver and vitreous enamel.[1]
Her foreign visits after travelling in the US were mainly linked to participation at exhibitions and conferences, often related to her engagement in the World Crafts Council (WCC), of which she was a co-founder and board member.
Grete Prytz Kittelsen died at age 93 in Oslo 25 September 2010.[6]
Works
After the Second World War Grete Prytz Kittelsen was commissioned to renew a range of products in the family firm Tostrup, which she did in cooperation with Arne Korsmo. They created several new objects for use in the home that were adapted to new production methods and a more informal lifestyle. An example is the cutlery Korsmo from 1954, which consisted of relatively few parts, and was simple to produce by the help of a few working tools. Additionally, she designed jewellery inspired by abstract art of the same era. Many of them were manufactured in a particularly rational way.
In 1957–1958 in cooperation with Paolo Venini, owner and director of the Venini Glassworks in Murano she developed jewellery in glass and silver that are considered among her most outstanding works.[citation needed]
From the end of the 1950s she worked as a designer for the Cathrineholm factory in Halden. They built up a collection of objects in enamelled steel that became very popular.
In addition, Prytz Kittelsen was active in scientific research. In 1950 she initiated a cooperation between The Central Institute of Research at the University of Oslo and Hadeland Glasswork in order to develop new, more affordable types of enamel. Her experiments in form, technique and materials constituted a kind of artistic and practical research.
Impact and honours
Grete Prytz Kittelsen had grown up with the ideals of the modern design movement, where simple and beautiful everyday objects should be made available for everybody. This, together with a strong technical interest and practical skill, became significant of her work. Both technically and formally her pieces were characterized by an ability to experiment and a modernity that made them original even in an international setting.
As one of the leading artists of the Scandinavian Design movement, Kittelsen received several awards and honours in the 1950s, including the Lunning Prize in 1952. At the initiative of Grete Prytz Kittelsen Norway was for the first time represented at the trendsetting Triennale di Milano in 1954. Here she was awarded with a Grand Prix for a large tray in enamelled silver. Later she achieved several awards at the Triennale.[citation needed]
In 2018 several buildings and auditoriums at Oslo Metropolitan University (OsloMet) were given new names. OsloMet has a tradition of naming their buildings after historical people, and primarily women who have had an impact on one or more of the fields of study at OsloMet. One of the auditoriums at Kjeller campus was given the name "Grete Prytz Kittelsens auditorium", which is located at Karethe Johnsen's house.[8]
Related Research Articles
Kittelsen is a surname. Notable people with the surname include:
Torolf Prytz was a Norwegian architect, goldsmith and politician for the Liberal Party. He led the goldsmith company J. Tostrup of Oslo from 1890 to 1938, having inherited it from his grandfather-in-law Jacob Tostrup. He also served as Norwegian Minister of Industrial Provisioning from 1917 to 1918 and President of the Norwegian Red Cross from 1922 to 1930.
Scandinavian design is a design movement characterized by simplicity, minimalism and functionality that emerged in the early 20th century, and subsequently flourished in the 1950s throughout the five Nordic countries: Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden, and Iceland.
Jacob Ulrich Holfeldt Tostrup was a Norwegian jeweler, goldsmith and silversmith.
Arne Korsmo was a leading architect in Norway and a propagator of the international architectural style. He taught at the Norwegian National Academy of Craft and Art Industry and he was a professor at the Department of Architecture at the Norwegian Institute of Technology.
Oluf Tostrup was a Norwegian goldsmith.
Grete or Grethe is a feminine given name, a derivate of Margaret. It is most often used in Scandinavia, Estonia, and German-speaking Europe.
The Medal of St. Hallvard is the highest award of the City of Oslo, Norway. It is awarded to people who have made a particularly noteworthy contribution to the City of Oslo. It is named after the city's patron, Saint Hallvard. The medal was designed by goldsmith Jacob Prytz (1886–1962) of the jewelry firm J. Tostrup in Oslo. It has been awarded since 1956.
Julius Olavus Middelthun was a Norwegian sculptor and educator. He is most associated with his busts and statues.
Christopher Henrik Holfeldt Tostrup was a Norwegian timber merchant and land-owner.
Benny Anette Motzfeldt was a Norwegian visual artist and glass designer and sculptor.
Wenche Elisabeth Selmer was a Norwegian architect. She specialized in timber architecture, working residential projects. Her wooden cabins and houses were inspired by nature and designed to not overwhelm or dominate but rather blend with the natural landscape.
Ivar David-Andersen was a Norwegian goldsmith.
Synnøve Korssjøen is a Norwegian goldsmith.
Tone Vigeland is a Norwegian goldsmith/silversmith and jewellery designer.
Joyce Rosemary Himsworth was a British independent designer silversmith. From an early age she worked with her father, the polymath Joseph Beeston Himsworth (1874–1968) making small spoons and items of jewellery. She went on to study at Sheffield College of Arts and Craft, focusing on jewellery manufacture and enamelling. Her undoubted talents were not enough for her to gain a position within the family cutlery firm, B. Worth & Sons.
Jacob Prytz was a Norwegian goldsmith and designer.
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Kjellaug Hølaas was a Norwegian textile artist and educator.
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