Most of the exhibition files from the late 1930s and early 1940s do not have photographs in them, but when they do, these images give a window into the times. This Swedish Arts and Crafts exhibition from 1944 actually still feels quite modern (I’m looking at you, IKEA). Some of the wall label drafts for the show are also quite interesting — Label IV reads:

Before the war, “Swedish Modern” was a word which had a clear cut definition in design terms. It was style-forming and came about through the determined esthetic (sic) and social efforts to raise the standard of the Swedish home and to improve the taste for a better quality of design… But “Swedish Modern” is not an original style created in the last couple of decades. It is an inheritance coming from a rich tradition of beauty loving people who are courageous enough to break away from the swaddling clothes of the past to entertain new forms for living.

While going through the University Gallery files from the early 1950s, we found many small posters (7″x11″) for the exhibitions, no doubt to post around campus. These posters are one-color prints (sometimes on a colorful paper stock) with no images, but with some simple graphic flourishes–they are very charming in their simplicity. I can definitely see echos of this kind of straightforward design in today’s graphic design trends. We thought we’d share a few of these gems!