Erik Tidstrand (1876-1944)

Erik Tidstrand was the head of the lighting department at Nordiska Kompaniet from 1901 until 1941 and retired in 1943. He began his career at Leja and KM Lundberg, which later merged to form Nordiska Kompaniet (NK) in 1902. Tidstrand is considered one of the most significant lighting architects in Swedish lighting history during the first half of the 20th century. Examples of his successful collaborations include Ivar Tengbom's fixtures for the Concert Hall and the Tändstickspalatset, and Carl Bergsten's interior design for the passenger ship M/S Kungsholm. Another notable collaboration was the lighting he developed in partnership with NK's chief architect, Axel Einar Hjorth, for the interior design of Tössebageriet and Centrum-huset in Stockholm. Tidstrand's fixtures were showcased at numerous prestigious national and international exhibitions during the first half of the 20th century, a period when Swedish Grace was the prevailing design ideal. These exhibitions included the 1925 World Exhibition in Paris, the 1929 World Exhibition in Barcelona, the 1930 Stockholm Exhibition, the 1937 World Exhibition in Paris, and many more.