Vase GN 27, Gunnel Nyman, Nuutajärvi

Gunnel Anita Nyman (1909–1948). One of the pioneers of modern Finnish glass, Gunnel Nyman transformed glass into a medium of light, movement and poetic expression. Although she graduated from the Central School of Industrial Arts in Helsinki as a furniture designer, it was the influential designer Arttu Brummer who introduced her to Riihimäen Lasi, where she won third prize in the factory's 1933 design competition and began the glass career that would define her legacy. Working as a freelance designer, Nyman collaborated with Riihimäen Lasi, Nuutajärvi and Iittala, while also designing furniture, textiles and lighting for Taito Oy and Orno. Unlike many of her contemporaries, she believed that form itself was the essence of glass, favouring clean, sculptural silhouettes over heavy decoration. Working closely with master glassblowers, she often refined her designs during the blowing process and is widely credited with developing the celebrated smoke technique, seen most famously in her 1947 vase Ylösnousemus (Resurrection). Her international breakthrough came at the 1937 Paris World Fair, where both her unique glass creations and furniture designs for Boman were exhibited. Despite her untimely death at the age of thirty-nine, Nyman continued designing until the very end of her life and was posthumously awarded a Gold Medal at the 1951 Milan Triennale. Today, her works are held in major museum collections around the world and are regarded as milestones in the development of modern Scandinavian glass.

(Photo source: Gunnel Nyman archive)