Lisa Larson was born on September 9, 1931 in the Småland region of southern Sweden. I come from a small village of about 500 people called Härlunda in the Älmhult district of Kronoberg county.
Lisa Larson originally wanted to be a fashion designer, but after enrolling at the art college in the port city of Gothenburg in the southwest, she studied ceramics. When I was in school, I participated in a competition held in Helsinki, Finland. Stig Lindberg, who happened to be at the event, discovered it, and that led me to join Gustavsberg, a long-established pottery maker, as an apprentice. The exhibited work is a ceramic statue of a small cat with a pricked tail, which later led to the Lilla Zoo series.
Stig Lindberg is one of Sweden's leading modern art masters of the 20th century. It is known for designs such as Berså, which has a continuous green leaf pattern. Lindberg pursues novel designs that have never been seen before and works that can be mass-produced. Already married and living in Gothenburg with her husband, Lisa Larson decided to move to Stockholm in 1954. It was when Lisa was 23 years old.
(Gustavsberg at the time of its founding)
Gustavsberg is a place name in the eastern suburbs of Stockholm, and the Gustavsberg Company has been operating since 1825. The founder's name was Gustav, and because the pottery was produced from the local clay, the company came to be called Gustavsberg, which means 'beri' (mountain from which the clay for pottery can be removed). The company faces a canal and used water transportation to ship its products. That's why Gustavsberg's logo depicts a ship's anchor.
The workshop that Lisa Larson entered was ideal for a young ceramic designer. It was an environment where I could immerse myself in my creative activities, as it was fully equipped with special pottery clay, glaze, and kiln. Lisa officially joined Gustavsberg in 1954 after joining the project. The Stora Zoo series with animal motifs and the ABC-Flickor series famous for ABC girls were created immediately after this.
(Center photo: Stig Lindberg supervising at the workshop)
Wilhelm Kåge was also at Gustavsberg at the time. Koge is a legendary designer of the 20th century Swedish mid-century golden age. A teacher of the aforementioned Stig Lindberg, he was a person at a turning point between tradition and innovation who produced many artistic works with a sense of tension. Koge traveled to Japan in 1956 and brought many Japanese ceramics back to Sweden.
(Left photo: Wilhelm Koge)
It seems that workshops (study groups) were held almost every week in the company with the theme of pottery from each country. It is no coincidence that Lisa Larson's style has become familiar to Japanese people.
(Stig Lindberg and Lisa Larson)
○ Lisa Larson's biography up to her twenties
・Born in Småland in 1931
・1948 Entered university
1952 Married to Gunnar Larsson
・1953 Joined Gustavsberg
・1955 Lilla Zoo (small zoo) production
・1957 Stora Zoo (big zoo)
・1958 ABC-Flickor (ABC Girls), Skulpturer (sculpture) production
・1959 Made by Granada
(Granada series platter)
・1960 Made by Harlekin
・1961 Produced the UNIK series
(One of the UNIK series, sunflower ceramic plate)
Looking at these achievements, you can tell that the groundwork for creation was completed in his twenties . Stig Lindberg, who discovered the talent of the young and unknown designer Lisa Larson and made her a world-famous artist, was not wrong after all.
Many of Lisa Larson's works are ceramic statues, but in her 30s and 40s she expanded her creative horizons and is also in charge of tableware design. Lisa Larson has been a precocious and long-lived creative activity. We have many of her works in our shop. Please take this opportunity to see the Lisa Larson collection on our website .
Thank you for reading for me until the end.