Loja Saarinen

Minna Carolina Mathilde Louise "Loja" Gesellius (March 15, 1879 – April 21, 1968) was a Finnish-American textile artist and sculptor. She founded the weaving department at the Cranbrook Academy of Art in Michigan. She also led her own studio, the Studio Loja Saarinen, which designed many of the textiles used in buildings designed by her husband, the architect Eliel Saarinen.

Background She was born March 16, 1879, in Helsinki, Finland, and studied art at the Helsinki University of Art and Design (1898–99) and Drawing School of the Finnish Art Association (1899–1902), and sculpture under Jean Antoine Injalbert at the Académie Colarossi in Paris. Her older brother was the architect Herman Gesellius.

Career Loja Saarinen started her career in 1928 when she founded one of the most productive weaving departments in the United States at the Cranbrook Educational Community. Saarinen was heavily influenced by Swedish craft tradition. She was one of the first artists to bring Scandinavian design to America. Her most substantial work was for Kingswood School where her studio designed tapestries, rugs, curtains, and upholstery.

Saarinen's work is characterized by simple geometric designs in subtle light and dark contrasts, with a frequent use of complementary colors.

One-Person Exhibitions: Architectural League of New York, 1931 Detroit Institute of Arts, 1932 Norfolk Museum of Arts and Sciences, 1937 Cincinnati Museum of Art, 1938 Toledo Museum of Art, 1938 Berea College, 1943 Jacques Seligmann Gallery, New York City 1957 (two-person) Cranbrook Academy of Art, 1980