Schulim Krimper: Furniture as Art

Portrait of Schulim Krimper 1968 by Mark Strizic. National Portrait Gallery of Australia.

Words: Linda Nathan, Editor, Australian Wood Review

Back in the day, when I was the lesser partner in a cabinet and furniture making business, I remember giving an inward cheer when I first read about Schulim Krimper. What a hero! Here was someone who did custom work and took no quarter from the client! The customer was not always right – and speaking of rights, makers had some too…and feelings.

My introduction to Krimper (1893–1971) came through the book Schulim Krimper, Cabinet-maker (1986)¹. Terence Lane (1946–2024) was then Senior Curator of Decorative Arts at the National Gallery of Victoria. His 40 year career was notable for pioneering exhibitions on, and writing about, decorative arts and modernist furniture, in addition to many other achievements.

Installation view Schulim Krimper: mid-century artist and master craftsman at Bayside Gallery, 2025. Photo: Mark Ashkanasy

Lane’s book notes that in the post-war period, ‘It was (Krimper) who first demanded – and received – for his craft, the respect which had previously been accorded only to painters and sculptors’. His demeanor supported this – apparently he preferred to be called ‘Krimper’, wore a beret, and ‘when the mood took him, a monocle’²!

My admiration of Krimper’s furniture and in particular his attitude was recently renewed when I visited the exhibition Schulim Krimper: mid-century artist and master craftsman at Bayside Gallery in Melbourne. This gallery is sumptuously housed in Brighton Town Hall in Carpenter Street, Brighton, an old stomping ground. This was where I met my partner Raf Nathan who lived in the same street in a not-so-sumptuous house. Raf had begun his woodworking life in a small backyard bungalow. Longer workpieces had to be hung out of the window.

Schulim Krimper: mid-century artist and master craftsman, installation view at Bayside Gallery. Photo: Mark Ashkanasy

Mid-century furniture design has been all the rage for many years now, so the trip to Carpenter Street, and to the real-time mid-century work of Krimper took me back in more than one way. While the business we had in Ripponlea came much later, it was the world of custom making (and custom clients!) that makes me still love, in particular, this quote from an article about Krimper that appeared in Australian Home Beautiful, July 1950:

‘Customers and prospective customers were classed into three groups: “The first has taste. He gets on well with them. The second has no formed taste, but trusts him. They get on well enough, too. The third lacks taste and wants him to make furniture that artistically he regards as rubbish. Of them he says – “We part company soon!”’

Schulim Krimper (cabinetmaker) and Clifford Last (carver), Sideboard (1949), Queensland blackbean, brass, 940 x 2140 x 590mm. Private collection, Melbourne.

Lane goes on to describe how prospective clients were carefully assessed before Krimper agreed to work for them. ‘I would like to see your place’, he would say, and a home visit was arranged³. Customers had to place themselves entirely in his hands and had little or no input into the designing process, or even into the choice of timbers used. Price was never discussed… Eventually they would be summoned to the workshop and told: ‘This is what I have done for you. If you like it, it is yours. If not, say so and we are friends.’

In the modernist tradition, Australia looks back to the mass-produced designs of Grant Featherston, Clement Meadmore, Fred Lowen and Douglas Snelling. No one else quite fits the mould of Schulim Krimper however, a furniture master craftsman who found a financially stable way to design and make according to his own tastes, not those of his clients. Krimper’s now collectible work is represented in the National Gallery of Victoria as well as private collections.

Krimper’s maker’s mark on the underside of his Desk chair (1950s), unidentified timber, leather, brass. Private collection, Melbourne

I’ve seen several items by Krimper in real life over the years, but to be up close to 41 pieces, curated and assembled by Kirsty Grant for this beautifully presented exhibition was an expected delight. Several pieces were on loan from the NGV and Ballarat Art Gallery however much of the work was new to the public eye. ‘I was commissioned to curate the exhibition two years ago’, explains Grant. ‘Locating the items included in the show, most of which are from private collections, took some time. The fact that most of them have never been exhibited in public before is one of the very exciting aspects of the show.’

Seeing Krimper’s work en masse was a privilege, as was the opportunity to inspect all the gaps, joins, junctures and under-structures in the way that only other woodworkers tend to do. Seventy or however many years later this work showed some of the patina of use but structurally it was superb! Leg, door and drawer gaps were still perfect. Now that’s a tribute.

The Lina Bryans writing table 1955, blackbean, glass, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne. Purchased, 1973. Photo: Christian Markel / NGV

While the idea for the exhibition originated with the Bayside Gallery team, the exhibition was an opportunity to honour Terence Lane. ‘Given the fact that Terry died last year and is greatly missed by those who knew him, it was a great way to acknowledge his foundational work on Krimper and to honour his work more broadly,’ said Kirsty Grant of her colleague and friend.

In his text for the book (which is reprinted in the exhibition catalogue), Terence Lane sketches Krimper’s life story. Born in 1983 in Sereth, now Romania, Krimper followed his childhood inclination and undertook a traditional apprenticeship in woodworking. Lane quotes Krimper, ‘I worked for four years from 5:50am to 9pm’ before passing his examinations and staying on to work for his master.

Screen (detail) c.1961, teak, brass, 2607 x 2393 x 1320mm. National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne. Photo: Christian Markel / NGV

Krimper fought in the First World War and afterwards lived in Berlin throughout the rise of Hitler’s National Socialist party. Krimper and his wife, both Jews, finally gained permits to emigrate, and spent a year in a refugee camp in England before travelling to Australia in 1939.

Settled in Melbourne, Krimper set to work in St Kilda to build a business, initially in partnership, and then on his own. ‘Working 60 hours a week, however, he was unable to adjust his working methods or to compromise on quality, he lost on nearly every piece he made’, writes Lane. ‘His financial situation only improved when he received a government order for ammunition boxes. The work was repetitive but provided him with a modest income and enabled him to repay his debts.’ Every 21st century woodworker who has struggled to making a living will here resonate with Krimper’s mid-century need for a bread-and-butter line.

Cocktail cabinet on stand (c.1950), black bean, brass, glass. Ballarat Art Gallery.

A turning point came in 1941 when Robert Haines saw a shopfront display of Krimper’s turnings and lamps. ‘A friendship developed…and in 1947, when appointed Assistant Director of the National Gallery of Victoria, Haines brought Krimper’s furniture to the notice of the Director, Daryl Lindsay’, writes Lanes.

Following this, Krimper works were acquired by the NGV in 1948 and 1951. Haines subsequently offered to organise an exhibition of his work. This took place in 1951 in the upmarket Georges department store gallery. ‘Never before had Melbourne seen such a presentation – furniture as art’, writes Lane. The result was sales, and a reputation that built.

Chest of drawers ,1952, African walnut, 895 x 1470 x 510mm. Andrew Collection, Melbourne.

An exhibition of Krimper’s work organised by the Department of Trade and accompanied by Robert Haines, then Director of the Queensland Art Gallery, followed in New York in 1956 and was well received. Exhibitions of his work were mounted by the NGV in 1959 and 1975. Krimper died in 1971.

Lane summarises Krimper’s opus. ‘During his 32 years in Australia, Krimper’s furniture evolved from the simple pine and hardwood cupboards, bookcases and chairs of the post-war period to the ambitious cabinets and sideboards of the 1950s and 1960s… In the work of this period, however, the major components of his style were most clearly present.

Desk chair (1950s), unidentified timber, leather, brass. Private collection, Melbourne.

‘The first was the influence of the indigenous furniture styles of Germany and Austria: Biedermeier furniture of the 1810s, -20s and -30s, with its severely reduced forms and broad, flat surfaces serving to highlight figured veneers of fruitwood and other pale timbers; and, more importantly, peasant or folk furniture with its simplicity and clarity of construction.’

Viewing his work today, Krimper’s expertise as a maker is apparent. It’s also easy to see that he was a master of grain arrangement. Cabinet doors and drawers often featured sculpted recesses that exploited the beauty of wood grain patterns. Hand finishing was another hallmark of his work. Lane describes this involved ‘a long process of planing, hand sanding and then waxing’.

Three-legged chair c.1960, teak, leather. Private collection, Melbourne. Photo courtesy Jeromie Maver

In his time, Krimper was innovative, combining wood with other materials such as Vitrolite, laminates, linoleum, bamboo and leather. He used exotic woods, however many of the works shown are made from native species including black bean, mountain ash, silky oak and Queensland walnut.

As a bespoke designer maker of fine furniture from 40s to the 60s in Australia, Krimper holds a unique and unparalleled position. If he was alive today, we would surely be queuing for advice on not just woodworking techniques and design, but on how he managed to craft a living out of the craft.

Toy birds (1960s), unidentified timber. Private collections, Melbourne.

All photos courtesy Bayside Gallery, Victoria. The exhibition Krimper – Mid-century artist & master craftsman ran from 5 July to 24 August 2025 at Bayside Gallery, Brighton, Victoria.

Kirsty Grant is an independent curator and writer. She was a curator at the National Gallery of Victoria for 20 years and after that, Director/CEO of Heide Museum of Modern Art.

In 2014, Grant curated a major exhibition titled Mid-Century Modern: Australian Furniture Design which was the first survey of this aspect of Australian design.

1, 2. Schulim Krimper, Cabinet-maker. A tribute by Mark Strizic and Terence Lane (Gryphon Books, 1986). The exhibition catalogue produced by Bayside Gallery includes a full reprint of Terence Lane’s essay and essay notes.

3. Lane’s essay refers to a series of unpublished interviews.

First published in Australian Wood Review issue 128, September 2025