Northern light: Josef Frank exhibition opens in London

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This month, London hosts the first-ever UK exhibition dedicated to Josef Frank, one of Sweden's most influential artists.

Born in Austria in 1885, Frank studied architecture at the Vienna University of Technology before fleeing to Stockholm in 1933, during the onset of Nazi occupation. In Sweden, Frank's art found a natural rapport (he later adopted Swedish citizenship) and the designer became a key figure in the country's Modernism movement.

It was shortly after emigrating that Frank met artist Estrid Ericson, founder of interior design store Svenkst Tenn. Theirs was to be a lifelong working relationship, during which the indefatigable designer produced more than 2,000 sketches for pieces of furniture, textile, glassware and metalwork – many of which are still in production today.

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The Fashion and Textile Museum's exhibition will focus on these vibrant textiles and pieces of furniture, while also casting a spotlight on Frank's watercolour paintings, a previously unknown side of his talents. Never one to do things by half, Frank produced around 400 watercolours in the latter half of his career, which typically depicted colourful scenes of nature, still life and landscapes.

Though associated with Modernism, Frank made the movement his own in a unique way. His style embraced comfort and colour, with decorative yet functional designs inspired by nature, replete with abstract flowers, butterflies and birds. He had little time for Le Corbusier's mantra that a house should be "a machine for living in", even saying he feared "standardised interiors" would make people "all too uniform".

Frank's work was unashamedly optimistic, despite being created at the height of World War II, and sat in stark contrast to Modernism's clean, minimalist aesthetic.

"The monochromatic surface appears uneasy, while patterns are calming, and the observer is unwillingly influenced by the slow, calm way it is produced." Frank wrote. "The richness of decoration cannot be fathomed so quickly, in contrast to the monochromatic surface, which doesn't invite any further interest and therefore one is immediately finished with it."

The new exhibition has been organised in partnership with Millesgarden, a Stockholm-based museum and sculpture park and the former home of artist Carl Milles, who, in 1951, commissioned Frank and Ericson to design its interior. Josef Frank: Patterns–Furniture–Paintings includes plans, drawings and photographs of these, giving visitors the chance to see Frank's work in situ.

"Josef Frank's textile patterns are a design classic: his brilliant use of colour, sense of scale and surreal organic forms have remained in fashion for over 70 years," said Celia Joicey, head of the Fashion and Textile Museum. "Frank's collaboration with Estrid Ericson at Svenskt Tenn in Stockholm is a fine example of how working in a design partnership can create a stronger individual style."

Josef Frank: Patterns–Furniture–Paintings runs from 28 January–7 May; ftmlondon.org