Fabric of life: Josef Frank's joyous textile designs – in pictures

Viennese architect and furniture designer Josef Frank fled from the Nazis to Sweden – and began creating dizzyingly colourful fabrics

Main image: Josef Frank, Italian Dinner, 1943-45 Photograph: Josef Frank

  • Josef Frank, Dixieland, 1941-46

    As well as painting, furniture design and architecture, Austrian designer Josef Frank is celebrated for his wildly colourful fabrics. An exhibition, Josef Frank: Patterns–Furniture–Painting is at the Fashion and Textile Museum, London, 28 January–7 May. All images: Josef Frank courtesy of Svenskt Tenn
    Josef Frank, Dixieland, 1941-46 As well as painting, furniture design and architecture, Austrian designer Josef Frank is celebrated for his wildly colourful fabrics. An exhibition, Josef Frank: Patterns–Furniture–Painting is at the Fashion and Textile Museum, London, 28 January–7 May. All images: Josef Frank courtesy of Svenskt Tenn

  • Josef Frank, Himalaya, 1950

    Josef Frank studied, practised and taught architecture in Vienna throughout the 1920s, designing furniture and houses for wealthy clients, as well as social housing
    Josef Frank, Himalaya, 1950 Frank studied, practised and taught architecture in Vienna throughout the 1920s, designing furniture and houses for wealthy clients, as well as social housing

  • Josef Frank, Hawaii, 1943-45

    Amid the rise of Nazism, he fled with his wife to her homeland of Sweden in 1933
    Josef Frank, Hawaii, 1943-45Amid the rise of Nazism, he fled with his wife to her homeland of Sweden in 1933

  • Josef Frank, Tulpaner (Tulips), 1943-45

    Attempts at architecture projects in Sweden and the US failed, and he focused on work for a Swedish interior design company, Svenskt Tenn
    Josef Frank, Tulpaner (Tulips), 1943-45Attempts at architecture projects in Sweden and the US failed, and he focused on work for a Swedish design company, Svenskt Tenn

  • Josef Frank, Gröna Fåglar (Green Birds) 1943

    Frank was a modernist who countered the idea of a house being a fixed masterpiece – he instead acknowledged that people would want to adapt and recombine elements of their homes. ‘The house is not a work of art, simply a place where one lives,’ he once wrote
    Josef Frank, Gröna Fåglar (Green Birds) 1943Frank was a modernist who countered the idea of a house being a fixed masterpiece – he instead acknowledged that people would want to adapt and recombine elements of their homes. ‘The house is not a work of art, simply a place where one lives,’ he once wrote

  • Josef Frank, Italian Dinner, 1943-45

    As well as more than 2,000 pieces of furniture, Frank designed textile patterns full of colour and fecundity
    Josef Frank, Italian Dinner, 1943-45 As well as over 2,000 pieces of furniture, Frank designed textile patterns full of colour and fecundity

  • Josef Frank, Anakreon, 1938

    This design is based on a 3,500-year-old fresco from the palace in Knossos on Crete, discovered by Svenskt Tenn founder Estrid Ericson. It is named after the Greek poet Anacreon from 500 BC, famous for his love and drinking songs
    Josef Frank, Anakreon, 1938This design is based on a 3,500 year-old fresco from the palace in Knossos on Crete, discovered by Svenskt Tenn founder Estrid Ericson. It is named after the Greek poet Anacreon from 500 BC, famous for his love and drinking songs

  • Josef Frank, Manhattan, 1943-45

    Most of Josef Frank’s patterns are inspired by nature, but this lyrical take on Manhattan’s grid is one of the exceptions
    Josef Frank, Manhattan, 1943-45Most of Josef Frank’s patterns are inspired by nature, but this lyrical take on Manhattan’s grid is one of the exceptions

  • Josef Frank, Butterfly, 1943-45

    Designed for Svenskt Tenn during a period working in New York, this pattern was inspired by the book Butterflies of America
    Josef Frank, Butterfly, 1943-45 Designed for Svenskt Tenn during a period working in New York, this pattern was inspired by the book Butterflies of America

  • The dining room in Anne’s house, Millesgården

    A selection of Frank furniture and textile designs installed in Millesgården, the house of Swedish artist couple Carl and Olga Milles
    The dining room in Anne’s house, MillesgårdenA selection of Frank furniture and textile designs installed in Millesgården, the house of Swedish artist couple Carl and Olga Milles
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