Anna Petrus – A Free Spirit Ahead of Her Time
The exhibition Sequence of Spaces presents several of the iconic pewter objects Anna Petrus designed for Svenskt Tenn during the 1920s, including the Vase Profile and Vase Head of Janus, alongside sculptures from the Petrus family collection. In conjunction with the exhibition, objects from Svenskt Tenn’s design archive are also being reintroduced: the Table Lamp Anna Petrus and Mirror Lion.
Spanish architect and artist Elvira Solana
was invited to create a contemporary setting for Petrus’ work. Solana describes
Petrus as a free spirit ahead of her time – an artist who moved away from
strict conventions towards a freer and more intuitive expression.
“She belonged to a generation that brought
the worlds of art and design into practical and everyday use. A sculpture, a
vase, or a door handle can have equivalent artistic value regardless of its
function: artistic value applied to everyday life. Today, these are ideas we
have completely internalised, but it was people like Anna Petrus who opened the
way for the rest of us.”
The close relationship between art and
everyday life is also reflected in the family’s stories about Petrus’ work. Her
great-granddaughter Anna Nordström, herself an artist and silversmith, recalls:
“For me, Anna Petrus’ art has always been
something tactile and present. Her works were not objects in a museum that you
were not allowed to touch, but a natural part of the home. That relationship
with art has also influenced my own artistic practice.”
