The Collection1940´sGunnar and Marie Louise Didrichsen´s first acquisition, made in 1942, was a painting called The Meal (1889) by Pekka Halonen. 1950´s In the 1950´s the collection expanded with works of art by Finnish painters like Marcus Collin, Hugo Simberg, Tyko Sallinen, Jalmari Ruokokoski, Alwar Cawén, Magnus Enckell and Juho Rissanen. 1960´s
The 1960´s was a period of great activity for the Didrichsens. They formed friendships and relations to influential people dealing with art, among others with Maire Gullichsen, the founder of Galerie Artek. At the end of the 1950´s Marie-Louise and Gunnar bought their first Buddha-statue. At an auction at Bukowskis in Stockholm in 1962 the Didrichsens were charmed by Pre-Columbian objects and they found a new world of exotic art. In 1963 the Marie-Louise and Gunnar Didrichsen Foundation was formed, which guarantees that the collection continues to benefit the Finnish people. It was also in the 60´s that the museum activities started. It was in the 1960´s that the Didrichsens turned to international modern art. Their first modern work of art was a gouache by Fernand Léger.
1970´s In the 1970´s the collection kept on growing and the Didrichsen Art Museum became a well-known museum. 1980´s At the end of the 80´s there was less activity at the museum as Marie-Louise and Gunnar Didrichsen got older. 1990´s and 2000´s In the beginning of the 90´s the museum was renovated and in 1993 the exhibition space was extended into the private living quarters. Today the museum has 2-3 special exhibitions per year and is open for public almost every day. The collection is expanded with some works of art every year in accordance to the financial situation. |
