Schulim Krimper

, 1968

Schulim Krimper (1893-1971), furniture designer and cabinetmaker, was born in the Austro-Hungarian province of Bukovina. The son of a rabbi, he served an apprenticeship as a cabinetmaker and lived briefly in Berlin before emigrating to Australia in August 1939. Settling in Melbourne, he opened a workshop in St Kilda, and rapidly established a reputation for the superb construction of his custom-made modern furniture. Credited with elevating his craft to the level of an art, he was the subject of several one-man exhibitions in his lifetime, and his work now figures in the permanent collections of several major Australian galleries, including the National Gallery of Australia, the Art Gallery of South Australia and the Powerhouse Museum. His woodwork adorns the chapel of St Mary's college at the University of Melbourne.