Timo Sarpaneva Biography
Timo Tapani Sarpaneva (Helsinki, 31 October 1926 – Helsinki, 2 October 2006) was a Finnish designer and sculptor, among the most influential artists and among the main exponents of the Scandinavian style. Sarpaneva worked mainly with glass objects, but also with metal, ceramics, textiles and wood. Timo Tapani Sarpaneva was born in Helsinki on 31 October 1926. He studied at the city's Institute of Industrial Arts (Taideteollinen Korkeakoulu), and graduated in 1948. In 1950 he began working for Iittala as a designer and head of the exhibition section. For Iittala he created the Orchid vase which, presented at the Milan Triennale in 1954, was acclaimed by the American magazine House Beautiful as "The most beautiful object of the year". In 1956 he redesigned the company logo, for which he received an award at the following Triennale, while the pot with wooden handle presented at the 1960 Triennale earned him the Silver Medal. His works are finally exhibited at the MoMA in New York. Sarpaneva also operates in the textile sector. Between 1955 and 1956 he was art director of Pori Puuvilla in Pori, a cotton producing company. He subsequently collaborated with Tampella for the Ambiente collection, and from 1964 to 1972 he was art director of Kinnasand. In the seventies he collaborated with Rosenthal for the Suomi porcelain line; Sarpaneva began working on it in 1972, and in the year of its launch, 1976, the collection became a critical and sales success, so much so that it was exhibited in 1992 at the Georges Pompidou Center in Paris. Sarapaneva died on 2 October 2006 in Helsinki, at the age of 79, leaving behind his wife Marjetta Svennevig and four children.
