Antique chairs, tables and sofas with their original red, green or pearl gray finishes and gilded details share the living room with reproduction Rococo and Neoclassical pieces painted a vibrant red. The walls are yellow with olive wainscotting, two popular colors during the Rococo period.
Ralph Edenheim’s passion for color is evident throughout his 17th Century home. And so is his country’s centuries-old passion for painted furniture.
Swedes, for the last 300 years, have cultivated painting techniques either to brighten their sun-starved interiors or to emulate the grandeur of the upper classes, says Edenheim, a Swedish art historian, specialist on paint and color use and author of Swedish books on traditional paint techniques. Edenheim is also the former director of the cultural history department of Skansen, an open-air museum in Stockholm devoted to architecture and interiors.
The most popular techniques are the solid-color glazing or lacquering and the gilding found in Swedish palaces and manors, and the more decorative painting of the rural style that imitated the ornate gilded patterns and wood carvings of upper-class decor.
Furniture hand-painted in the Swedish style is growing in popularity in the United States and, according to local designers, in the Chicago area, as well.
“People increasingly are interested in hand-painted furniture,” says Edwina Cowell, co-owner of A Room With a View in Evanston. The interior design company and retailer carries Swedish reproductions and other pieces hand-painted in a variety of techniques by Chicago artists.
Distressing, a painting method that makes new furniture look old, is one of the most requested techniques. This method, which may include glazing, sanding and waxing, can be used on unfinished or stripped furniture and on reproduction pieces. The effect is an interesting aged patina that increasingly is becoming popular and can be seen in stores such as Crate & Barrel and Ethan Allen.
“Fine wood furniture is very expensive and so are antiques,” says Cowell. “A distressed piece genuinely looks old. And it’s a one-of-a-kind piece. It’s been worked on by hand, which gives it a unique look.”
In addition to reproduction pieces that are ready and waiting to put on some years, furniture retailer IKEA, which opened its largest North American store in Schaumburg last month, sells an array of unfinished contemporary designs and the paints and supplies needed to finish them in the Swedish style.
Like so many things that come full circle, so does this pattern of borrowing style. The golden age of Swedish furniture painting began during the Rococo period in the early to mid-18th Century when Swedish carpenters copied French and, later, Italian and English styles, says Goran Alm, the deputy director of information at the Royal Swedish Court and an art historian who has written extensively on the Rococo period.
The Swedish interpretation of Rococo and Neoclassicism, known as the Gustavian style after King Gustav III (1746-1792), was simpler and more restrained than the Continental originals.
“In the late 18th Century, the outdated furniture was passed on to servants and eventually carted off to auctions,” Alm says. “That’s how the style spread to rural areas. Wealthy farmers bought the furniture, and rural carpenters began copying it. . . . This rural taste is known in Sweden as `farmer’s Rococo.’ “
It was not until the 19th Century that Swedish homes became painted universally. But from then on, people painted everything. Rural painters imitated the latest fashion but they also added floral ornaments, in imitation of carved decor common on palace furniture. Techniques such as marbling, trompe l’oeil and graining also spread from palaces to farmhouses, where they were painted in a bold and naive style.
Swedish interiors lost their luster at the end of the 19th Century when the Victorian style ushered in heavy fabrics and lacquered, dark wood, but artist Carl Larsson (1853-1919) and other Swedish followers of the Arts and Crafts movement reacted against the gloom and began to paint furniture and walls in bright colors.” Inspired by Larsson’s famous watercolor series, “A Home,” generations of Swedes have rediscovered this colorful tradition and incorporated it into their homes.
Trying your own hand at painting furniture in the Swedish style is not out of the question either. “I always tell people they can do it too. It’s very easy,” says Edenheim.
“The secret of the Swedish style is layering,” says Roger Seamark, a Stockholm-based painter specializing in decorative arts and reproductions. “This style of painting thinly and applying numerous coats of paint gives a vibrant quality. The light reflects in the paint, and you can see the underlying coats.”
Born in England and educated at the London School of Printing and Graphic Art, Seamark has lived and worked in Sweden since 1972. His well-known workshop is located on Karlavagen, a posh Stockholm street known for its many antiques stores.
Seamark distresses Rococo chairs to look like antique pieces with the original 18th Century coat of paint. The chairs are decorated in the “classic Swedish colors”–Prussian blue, burnt sienna, yellow ochre and pearl gray.
On one chair, Seamark achieved a warm yellow finish by applying yellow ochre over white and finishing with a black-stained glaze, which is meant to imitate the effect of pigment fragments in the paint. This kind of imperfection was a typical feature of an 18th Century finish, he explains, because painters in those days mixed the paint on site.
Edenheim used a different approach to paint his Gustavian chairs from IKEA. He mixed and applied the paint to yield a brilliant and colorful surface, a new, just-painted appearance that works well on contemporary furniture as well as reproduction antiques. He used iron-oxide red, one of the most popular colors in Swedish painted decor. This pigment still is referred to in Sweden as “English red” or “mahogany red” because originally it was used to emulate mahogany. Although oil paints most commonly were used to paint furniture in the 18th Century, Edenheim recommends egg tempera (see accompanying recipe). “It gives the most beautiful surface. It’s very durable and easy to work with.”
Indeed, the finish has a translucent quality, which Edenheim describes as “eggshell-like, glowing and soft.”
The vivid yet mild Swedish palette appeals to interior designer Marilyn Akins, a partner of the Akins & Aylesworth design studio in Hinsdale. “Painted Swedish furniture is beautiful and light-hearted, and the colors are soft,” she says. For one client, Akins furnished a formal dining room with reproduction Gustavian oval-backed chairs painted white. The upholstered seats were covered with a classic blue-and-white checkered fabric common in the Swedish Royal Palace in the mid-18th Century.
“Swedish furniture has a casual look. But it’s not too casual,” she says. “You can add just one painted chair and it works beautifully as a contrast to pine or mahogany.”
HOW TO MAKE EGG TEMPERA
Here is the recipe Ralph Edenheim uses to make egg tempera:
EGG TEMPERA
Drying time: 1 week to 10 days before second coat; wait 3 weeks before using chair
Yield: 4 chairs (Edenheim painted 2 coats with a dark pigment; with lighter pigment, more coats may be needed)
2 eggs
1/3 cup (about 3 ounces or 0.176 pints) linseed oil (see note)
1/3 cup water
1/3 to 2/3 cup (3-5 ounces) powder pigment
Note: Use only cold-pressed linseed oil (available in art supply stores)
1. For emulsion (it is important to mix the paint exactly in the following order), whisk the 2 eggs. Then add linseed oil to eggs. Whisk until dissolved. Add water at room temperature, and whisk until mixed.
2. After mixing the emulsion, add paint pigment (Edenheim used iron oxide red for his chairs).
Painting tips
To achieve the special egg-shell look, Edenheim uses a soft brush to brush the painted chair when it is completely dry. This yields a half-matte, soft glow and the surface will be soft to the touch.
For a deepened tempera look, Edenheim sometimes applies yet another coat of emulsion with very little pigment or completely without pigment.
WHERE TO BUY PAINTED FURNITURE, PAINTS
If you want to add Swedish color to your home, here are some places in the Chicago area to turn for advice and materials:
For design services, furniture
A Room with a View, 2022 Central St., Evanston, 847-475-6876. Retailer and interior design company that carries Swedish furniture and other painted furniture; the company works with area artists who hand-paint furniture in different techniques.
Barbara A. Johnson Antiques, 7801 E. State St., Rockford, 815-397-6699.
Suzanne Jameson Kramer Country Gallery Antiques, 136 150th St., River Falls, Wis., (open by appointment only) 715-425-7107.
For paints
Dry color pigment and cold-pressed linseed oil are widely available in the Chicagoland area, including in the following art-supply stores:
Brudno Art Supply, 700 S. Wabash Ave., 312-787-0030; 601 N. State St., 312-751-7980; and 1507 Rand Rd., Des Plaines, 847-635-7020.
Genesis Artists Village, 2417 N. Western Ave., 773-292-2992 or 800-Yes-4-Art (800-937-4278).
Good’s of Evanston, 714 Main St., Evanston, 847-864-0001.
IKEA Chicago, (they do not sell dry color pigment and cold-pressed linseed oil but they do sell colored stains), 1800 McConnor Pkwy., Schaumburg, 847-969-9700.
Pearl Art & Craft Supplies Inc., 225 W. Chicago Ave., 312-915-0200.
LEARNING MORE ABOUT PAINTED FURNITURE
Check out these books to learn more about painted furniture in Sweden and around the world and to get inspiration and advice on painting:
“Creating the Look,” by Katrin Cargill (Pantheon Books, $27.50). This book gives sources of Swedish design and how-to information about colors and paint effects, furniture and textiles.
“Scandinavian Painted Decor,” by Jocasta Innes (Rizzoli, $27.95). The author of several books on design and decorative paint techniques, Innes includes a brief history of Scandinavian design and decorating, as well as the use of color and a detailed how-to section for those interested in painting themselves.
“Scandinavian Painted Furniture: A Step-by-Step Workbook,” by Jocasta Innes (Sterling Publications, $24.95). This book includes 20 projects inspired by traditional paint techniques and colors. It’s a step-by-step guide for effects such as distressing and other traditional techniques.
“Bringing It Home Sweden: The Ultimate Guide to Creating the Feeling of Sweden in Your Home,” by Cheryl MacLachlan (Clarkson Potter, $40). As the title indicates, this book gives ideas for interior design inspired by Swedish homes and lifestyle, including decorating and food (recipes are included). The section on painted furniture features the work and home of Ralph Edenheim, a Swedish art historian, author and specialist on the use of paint and colors.
“New Swedish Style,” by Sasha Waddell (Rizzoli, $24.95). A practical guide for decorating with paint and textiles, this book is inspired by Swedish traditional and contemporary design.
