Description:

Clara Salander (1922-2025)
“Vikingstad”, rya carpet, 1960/70s.
Large hand-knotted rya carpet in wool with an abstract pattern in black and grey on a light background. “Vikingstad” design by Clara Salander, a characteristic example of Swedish textile art from the period, combining craftsmanship, texture, and modernist form.

Origin: Sweden.
Designer: Clara Salander.
Material: Pure wool.
Dimensions: 235 x 170 cm.
Period: 1960/70s.
Condition: Very good condition with minor signs of wear.

Bio:
Clara Salander (born 26 March 1922 in Åbo, Finland; died 20 June 2025 in Gävle, Sweden) was a Swedish textile artist, graphic artist, illustrator and painter.

She was the daughter of Supreme Court justice Harald Nordfors and Ester Kyrklund. Salander studied graphics at the Centralskolan för konstflit in Helsinki from 1943 to 1946. At the age of 25 she travelled to the United States to study fashion drawing at Pratt Institute in New York and design and painting at the Cranbrook Academy of Art in 1947–48. Later she took a textile art course at the Textilinstitutet in Borås in 1951–52.

From 1956 to 1966 she worked as a textile artist at the Västerbottens läns hemslöjdsförening and moved in the mid-1960s to Robertsfors as part of the municipality’s cultural initiative. There she created, in addition to illustrations and graphic works, wall paintings and carpets for public spaces as well as textile decorations for hotels and hospitals.

She illustrated books such as Livet var en dröm på Brantevik, tankar tänkta på ett fiskeläge by Bertil Torekull and Gumman och hartassen, saga från Finland by Marianne Aspelin. In 1999 she published the poetry collection Diktat och tecknat.

Clara Salander’s artistic work was not confined to textiles – she also worked in watercolour, gouache, oil, woodcut and metal.