Stig Lindberg

Stig Lindberg was born in Umeå in 1916, the youngest child of five. His father, Helof, was a military man and his mother, Lydia, was a teacher. At first his aim was to become a musician, but following an accident as a teenager he changed his artistic course. Lindberg finished school in 1935, immediately starting at Tekniska skolan (now Konstfack) in Stockholm. The following year he contacted the Gustavsberg porcelain factory, outside Stockholm. The factory was having problems and the manager was unable to even promise a summer placement, to which Lindberg answered: “If you employ me I’ll make sure there’s work at the factory.” The company’s artistic director, Wilhelm Kåge, was impressed by the self-assured Lindberg and employed him shortly afterwards. Lindberg took over from Kåge as artistic director in 1948 and stayed at Gustavsbergs Fabriker for almost his entire working life, until 1980. He died two years later at his home in Italy, aged 66. Lindberg was also the head teacher at Konstfack from 1957 to 1970. He was active in a range of areas such as illustration, sculpture, textile patterns and industrial design; he became one of the Swedish people’s favourite designers and a major international name. Lindberg played with shapes and gave everyday objects colour. He has left behind a rich production of shapes, colours and illustrations that are not a reflection of typical Scandinavian design, cool and severe, but which are more playful, colourful and humorous.