Art Collections
The establishment of the Varkaus Museum in 1956 was significantly influenced by the acquisition of an art collection containing Finnish expressionism from the early decades of the 20th century in Varkaus. Since then, the collections managed by the art museum have grown with art from Varkaus and Northern Savo in the 1960s–70s, and with Finnish art more broadly since the 1980s. In the early 2000s, there was an emphasis on environmental art. With the percentage art projects, public art has become an important part of the museum's activities since the 1980s. The collections maintained by the Varkaus Art Museum include almost 2,700 works.
Discover the art collections of the Varkaus Museum Centre Konsti in Finna
The art collections are managed by the Varkaus Art Museum, whose task is to record, research, care for and exhibit works owned by the city. The collections are often the starting point for the museum's diverse exhibition activities, and they help to tell the story of the history and present of Finnish visual art. The Art Museum's mission is to promote knowledge of visual arts in the region, also for future generations. The Art Museum's collections include, in addition to the city's collection, several donated collections. The collections are presented in the city's public spaces and in temporary exhibitions in Varkaus and elsewhere in the country.
Rakel Kansasen Collection
Rakel Kansanen
Kansanen who was raised in Leppävirta, became a Finnish translator and art collector Rakel Kansasen (1888–1949). She developed an interest in art from her childhood home. Her merchant father provided financial support to artists and educated all of her children. The linguist, educated at the Kuopio Girls' School, became a Finnish translator of literature, and like her father, she was interested in the arts. Rakel Kansanen translated works by Guy de Maupassant, Marcel Prévost, and Anatole France, among others. Kansanen was active in the Finnish cultural field and collected contemporary art. She was intimately acquainted with the artists of the November Group. Rakel Kansasen's art collection consists of Finnish expressionism from the early decades of the 20th century. Rakel's husband, Urho Toivola, worked as a diplomat and changed his station frequently. However, this did not prevent Rakel Kansasen from maintaining contact with artists and supporting them financially by purchasing their works. Rakel Kansanen died in Canada at the age of only 61. In her will, she expressed her desire to donate works to the Varkaus town in honor of the memory of her father, Pekka Kansasen.
Varkaus City Collections
The art collection of the city of Varkaus started collecting in 1960. Currently, the art collection of the city of Varkaus contains approximately 2,700 works, of which over 700 are graphic arts. The works in the city collection are mainly placed in the city's public spaces.
Artists in the collection
The art collection of the city of Varkaus has a comprehensive representation of artists living and working in Varkaus. The number of graphic arts acquisitions has been influenced by graphic artists that have lived in the city, including Allan Kuntsi, Väinö Rouvinen and Meeri Torvinen.
The comprehensive collection consists of over a hundred installations, paintings, drawings and graphics by Lars Holmström, who spent his childhood and youth in Varkaus. The abstract constructivist has also made a career as the principal of an art school in Kankaanpää and has been active in the Tampere Artists' Association for a long time.
Toini Hortensia Markkanen, who had an extensive production, was known for the silk-screen painting technique she developed herself. She focused on making her art in the Korpigallery, a combined residential, exhibition and gallery space that she built. The city's art collection contains almost 250 works by Hortensia Markkanen. The collection also includes about twenty paintings by the visual arts enthusiast and modernist Aili Iivarinen, as well as oil paintings and ink works by the talented self-taught Osmo Martikainen. The city's art collection also includes several dozen naive paintings.
Public art and environmental art
The annual (1960–1999) appropriations for the acquisition of art have changed with the percentage art projects into works and ensembles of works to be acquired for public spaces. National art was acquired on a percentage basis for new buildings, e.g. the extension of the city hall (1983), Repokangas daycare center (1983), library (1986), sports center (1986), Repokangas school (1987). Public art expanded into environmental art with the Viitostien art project in 2000. In an environmental art competition organized in 2004, Varkaus, together with the Road Administration, acquired works for the northern and southern exits of Varkaus. The first art acquisition related to the anniversary of Varkaus was the Shipbuilders sculpture group (1989), commissioned from the sculptor Taru Mäntynen from Varkaus. It is located in Hertunranta. There are over 80 public works of art in the Varkaus urban area, 14 of which are by Taru Mäntynen. Art has also been acquired in projects by companies belonging to the city group. The most recent public art acquisition is Lars Holmström's steel sculpture Elämän kehrä (2021), completed in front of the Aalto Healthcare Centre.