Exhibitions

Collectors' Passion 8.10.2010 - 30.1.2011

The exhibition Collectors´ Passion celebrating the 45th anniversary of the Didrichsen Art Museum will show the finest works from its collections. The Museum’s founders, Marie-Louise (1913-1988) and Gunnar (1903-1992) Didrichsen began collecting art in the 1940s, amassing some thousand works ranging from international modernism to the Finnish masters, as well as objets from ancient cultures. Their passion for the arts led to the creation of a uniquely personal collection which now, for the first time in ages, is being displayed in all its glory. Since it was opened in 1965, the Museum's Pre-Colombian and Asian collections have been on permanent display, the other works only in connection with the various exhibitions held each year.

Salvador Dali, The Sandman, 1966

A collection of high standards

After their first acquisitions of Finnish Golden Age art, Marie-Louise and Gunnar Didrichsen´s mutual love for the arts led soon to active collecting, including international and Finnish modernism as well as Asian and Pre-Columbian art. The acquired works were to please both, and the collections grew through their own personal taste but also by actively consulting connoisseurs. The result is a highly personal, qualitative and also by international standards regarded fine collection, with its ancient collections and large amount of Henry Moore´s sculptures makes it unique in the whole of Europe.

Pekka Halonen, The Meal, 1899

The jubilee exhibition combines old with new

The exhibition emphasises on the pearls in the collection but also tells us about the collectors, Marie-Louise and Gunnar Didrichsen. Their personalities and esthetic values are evident through their choices of works and gives us information on their life. In the variety of works, there are a number of surprising similarities, which in the exhibition planning have inspired to combine ancient artifacts with modernism. The villa, museum wing, sculpture park and versatile collections create an esthetic experience, which is well defined in the wish of the museum founders: ”We hope our little museum will remain the home of everything beautiful: nature, art and architecture and that it will give many people as much joy as it has given us”. Collectors´ Passion is thus primarily a story of the founders of the museum, art collectors Marie-Louise and Gunnar Didrichsen, and their work for the benefit of the arts.

Laila Pullinen, Double portrait of Marie-Louise and Gunnar Didrichsen, 1985

Comprehensive book on the collections

In connection with the exhibition a comprehensive book of 400 pages on the collections has been published, with articles by Erik Kruskopf, Ph.D. The book is available at the museum shop for 67 €. A smaller catalogue with photographs and descriptions of the works has also been published. Available at 32 €.

Collectors' Passion

8.10.2010 – 30.1.2011
tue-sun 11-18