When Schulim Krimper’s furniture was initially displayed at Melbourne’s Georges Gallery in 1951, The Age reported that it was ‘the first time in Australia that furniture has been exhibited as art’, noting ‘here is an artist-craftsman in the best European tradition, working now in Australian woods …
He designs furniture much in the spirit of a sculptor.’1 For Krimper, who had arrived in Melbourne in 1939, the exhibition was a significant turning point – major pieces were sold, his reputation was firmly established and as he recalled, ‘from then on people came to me.’2
Born in Sereth (now Romania) in 1893, Krimper was orphaned as a child and his love of wood and desire to create objects of beauty saw him apprenticed to the town cabinet-maker. Later, he travelled and in the manner of a journeyman, worked through Europe, refining his skills and gaining firsthand knowledge of the traditions of furniture as well as contemporary international design developments. These influences can be traced through Krimper’s work which is remarkable for its diversity, but also immediately recognisable for its focus on the distinctive qualities and beauty of Australian and imported timbers. Respect for his material was central to Krimper’s approach and he expected nothing less from his clients, saying ‘a man to whom I sell my furniture must be willing to wax it himself – no, his servants will not do.’
The Georges’ exhibition was initiated by Robert Haines, a great champion of Krimper and his work, who was also the driving force behind the National Gallery of Victoria’s acquisition of two major pieces in 1948 – the first time the Gallery had collected the work of a local modern furniture-maker. This acknowledgement of Krimper’s work continued with an exhibition organised under the auspices of the Commonwealth Department of Trade at the Rockefeller Centre, New York in 1956 and in 1959, a retrospective exhibition at the National Gallery of Victoria.
Schulim Krimper: Mid-Century Artist & Master Craftsman is the first time in fifty years that a significant group of Krimper’s work has been assembled. The exhibition presents a range of furniture from the 1940s to the 60s, including many pieces from private collections that have never been shown in public. From cocktail cabinets and desks to chairs and sideboards, Krimper made what he described as furniture for our own time, and while it is redolent of the mid-century decades in which it was produced, his work has stood the test of time and is avidly collected today, as well as treasured by many who hand it down through the generations.
1. ‘Furniture Exhibition’, Age, Melbourne, 10 April 1951, p. 5
2. Krimper quoted in Veronica Matheson, ‘The craftsman and his caress’, The Herald, Melbourne, 7 May 1969, p. 25
Schulim Krimper: Mid-Century Artist & Master Craftsman is at Bayside Gallery, Brighton Town Hall, cnr Wilson and Carpenter Streets, Brighton from 5 July – 24 August 2025. Entry is free.
By Kirsty Grant, Guest Contributer
Top Image: Mark Strizic, Schulim Krimper 1968 / National Portrait Gallery
May 2025