Josef Frank

The Collection of Hjalmar Olson (1902-1990), Gustavsberg. Acquired from Estrid Ericson, Svenskt Tenn, Stockholm.
Hjalmar Olson was president of Gustavsberg Porcelain Factory 1937-1968, and a Vice Chairman of LKAB 1962-1973. He was elected in 1942 as a member of the Academy of Engineering Sciences, where he was 2nd Vice Chairman from 1954 to 1956, and was appointed as the first honorary member in 1963. He received his degree in 1962 honorary doctor of technology at the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm.
As an engineer he studied modern porcelain industry in Germany. This took him to Gustavsberg porcelain factory already in 1929.
With his great interest in art and craft, he built up a private collection where quality was always of utmost importance. With help from close friends like Estrid Ericson, owner of Svenskt Tenn, he created his collection during the middle of the 1900's.

Josef Frank föddes i Österrike och studerade arkitektur i Wien. Som arkitekt arbetade han med egnahemsområden, villor och flerfamiljshus. 1925 startade han den egna inredningsfirman Haus und Garten tillsammans med två arkitektkollegor. I samband med nazisternas frammarsch utvandrade han till Sverige och anställdes 1934 på Firma Svenskt Tenn. Efter andra världskrigets utbrott tvingades Josef Frank, som kom från en judisk familj, i exil i New York. På Svenskt Tenn kom han under fyra decennier sätta sin prägel på sortimentet; särskilt vad gäller möbler och tygtryck.