Greta M. Grossman

Greta Magnusson Grossman (1906-1999) maintained a prolific forty-year career on two continents: Europe and North America and operated as mover and shaker in the male dominated world of mid-century modern design.

Her achievements were many and encompassed industrial design, interior design and architecture. In 1933, having successfully completed her fellowship at the renowned Stockholm arts institution, Konstfack, she opened Studio, a combined store and workshop in Stockholm.

During the same year Greta M. Grossman married jazz musician, Billy Grossman with whom she later emigrated to the United States, settling in Los Angeles.

 

Upon their arrival in California in 1940, Grossman opened a well publicized shop on Rodeo Drive, where she was among the first to bring the Scandinavian modern aesthetic to southern California's burgeoning modernist scene. Her unique approach to Swedish modernism was an instant hit in Los Angeles and soon she attracted celebrity clients, including Greta Garbo, Ingrid Bergman, Joan Fontaine, Gracie Allen and Frank Sinatra and it was not long before she began appearing alongside the likes of Charles Eames and Isamu Noguchi.