Märta Måås-Fjetterström

Märta Livia Vilhelmina Måås-Fjetterström (21 June 1873 – 13 April 1941) was a leading Swedish textile artist in the early 20th-century. She is remembered in particular for the weaving studio she opened in Båstad in 1919 and for the decorative rugs she produced from the 1910s to the 1930s, increasingly combining rural Nordic traditions with modernist trends. Her works are exhibited in some of the world's most important art museums, including New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art and London's Victoria and Albert Museum.

Biography Born on 21 June 1873 in Kimstad, Östergötland, Märta Livia Vilhelmina Fjetterström was the daughter of the clergyman Rudolf Fjetterström (1838–1920) and his wife Hedvig Olivia Augusta née Billstén (1849–1932). She was the second of eight children. From 1890 to 1895, she attended the arts and crafts school Högre Konstindustriella Skolan in Stockholm. She left the Malmö establishment six years later after problems with the board but was re-employed in 1913 by the Hemslöjd weaving school in Vittsjö where she worked with Lilli Zickerman, developing modern designs and pile rugs. In the 1930s, she produced classic rugs including Röda trädgårdsmattan, Bruna heden, Hästhagen and Ängarna. Collaborating with the designer Carl Malmsten, textiles were produced for private homes and public spaces such as the Swedish Institute in Rome, Ulriksdal Palace, Övralid Manor and a number of Swedish embassies.

Märta Måås-Fjetterström died on 13 April 1941 in Helsingborg.

Awards In 1924, Måås-Fjetterström was honoured with the Litteris et Artibus medal for her contributions to culture.