He brought the world to Nybrogatan

To put it simply, in the hands of Carl Magnus Heigard, Nordiska Galleriet developed into a world-leading shop for modern design and art.

The history of Nordiska Galleriet goes back to 1912 when Anders Andersson, a businessman from Skegrie in Skåne, built a property designed by the renowned architect Cyrillus Johansson on the corner of Nybrogatan and Riddargatan in Stockholm. The Andersson family lived in part of the house. On the street level there were shops where Anders Andersson tried out different business ideas, such as auctions and the sale of new cars and antique furniture.

In 1929 Andersson's nephew Carl-Otto Heigard took over the company. He phased out the car sales and instead supplemented the furniture store with an art gallery and established the name Nordiska Galleriet. Carl-Otto Heigard's son Carl Magnus was only 23 years old when he took over as CEO in 1946 and began a vigorous renewal of the concept. Carl-Magnus Heigard was passionate about modern design and manufacturing of the highest possible quality. He paved the way. To the genuine joy of life, expressed by the large family and friends. To unparalleled design, recognised by a fascinated industry.

When the Danish New Wave took off in the 1950s, Carl Magnus Heigard sold off furniture and collaborated and created a series of exhibitions with Finn Juhl, Børge Mogensen, Nanna and Jørgen Ditzel, Hans J. Wegner and Jørgen Høj, among others. He then introduced fashionable Italian brands such as Cassina and B&B Italia and produced furniture in the name of the Nordic Gallery in collaboration with Tobia Scarpa. In the late 1970s, the love affair with the leading international design of the day was further deepened by an exhibition where Charles and Ray Eames launched their furniture in Sweden.

Carl Magnus Heigard became personal friends with many of the most prominent names in the design world. Not least, it was he who brought the design world to Stockholm.

– People travelled from all over the Nordic region, says Jean-Jacques Lassagne, who worked at Nordiska Galleriet from 1976 to 1980 before starting to distribute designs –including those of a then unknown Philippe Starck - under his own name.

– Carl Magnus was the engine. He was first with the best, opening the eyes of many. He created a spirit and a range through his sure sense of quality and uncompromising purchases. I remember a visiting German design expert saying that it must be the best furniture store in the world. I felt the same way, hardly believing it was true that such a store existed in Stockholm at the time when I discovered it.

"Carl Magnus meant a great deal not only to Nordiska Galleriet but to the entire industry in Sweden."

Anders Carnerud, who was Nordiska Galleriet's store manager from 1974 to 1978, bought the company from Carl Magnus Heigard in 1982 and ran it until 2004.

– Carl Magnus was extremely important not only to Nordiska Galleriet but to the entire industry in Sweden, says Anders Carnerud. "He was focused on the design itself and really reached out with his message. He raised people's awareness of the importance of good design and sustainability, and he was an early adopter.

Anders Carnerud continued to run the company in the same spirit in terms of product range and activities; for example, an exhibition of innovative Cappellini - for which Nordiska Galleriet was also the agent – attracted a lot of attention.

Even today, the Nordiska Galleriet's goal is to be a destination for all those interested in modern design and art of absolute world class, and Carl Magnus Heigard's importance to that ambition can never be overestimated. At the end of December 2020, Carl Magnus Heigard passed away at the age of 97.