Bjorn Tragardh Biography
Björn Ivar Trägårdh, born 21 November 1908 in Uppsala, was a Swedish interior designer, painter, draftsman and graphic artist. After completing his studies at the Berggren Technical School and Painting School, he specialized as an interior designer at the Royal Academy of Arts from 1926 to 1929. He subsequently embarked on a career as an art consultant at Svenskt Tenn, before moving to England in 1937 to continue his studies. During 1939, he attended the Académie Julian, but had to move to Normandy following the outbreak of World War II. During his time in Normandy, he began creating artistic buttons from dried straw, which led to the creation of several factories post-war to supply straw buttons to the fashion houses Balenciaga, Worth and Schiaparelli. His artistic career began in France with a solo exhibition at the Institut Tessin in 1941, during which he exhibited around 100 paintings, sketches and drawings. He participated in numerous group exhibitions, including the autumn salons of the Swedish General Art Association at the Liljevalch art gallery, the Stockholm exhibition in 1930, and the jubilee exhibition of the Society for Graphic Arts at the National Museum in 1957. In addition, he took part in many group exhibitions in France. Trägårdh's works are present in important museums such as the National Museum, the Modern Museum, the Tours Museum and the Pau Museum. Björn Ivar Trägårdh died on 5 December 1998 in France.
