User:Omotecho/sandbox/Turun Art Museum

www.turuntaidemuseo.fiTurku Art Museum is one of the most significant art museums in Finland, located in Puolalanmäki, Turku. The museum and its extensive collection is maintained and owned by the Turku Art Association - Turun Taideyhdisty's reputation (Founded in 1891). The museum building was designed by Gustaf Nyström (1856-1917), a professor of architecture, and completed in 1904. Built by private donations of businessperson Ernst (1846-1924) and Magnus (1859-1924) Dahlström brothers, and donated to the city of Turku, the Turku Art Museum was the second Finnish museum to be opened after the Ateneum.

TThe first curator of the Art Museum was the artist Victor Westerholm (1860-1919). Kari Immonen has been the museum director since 2006.

In 2018, the museum's exhibitions attracted a total of 51,838 visitors.

TThe Art Association of Turku was founded to promote the hobby, understanding and practice of art and to maintain the art collection especially in the region of Southwest Finland. The first floor of the building housed the Art Association's Drawing School from 1904 to 1933, which is now part of the Art Academy of Turku University of Applied Sciences Turun ammattikorkeakoulun taideakatemiaa.

The administeror Turku Art Museum, or Turun Taideyhdistys ry, annually grants scholarships to professional artists living in the Turku area. A grant from the Ellen and Magnus Dahlström Testamentary Fund has been awarded since 1931 and a corresponding grant from the Helena Bruun Foundation since 2005. The Dahlström Eminentia Prize for Distinguished Artistic Life, as well as residency and travel grants, are also awarded every three years to the Ellen and Magnus Dahlström Testament Fund.

In 2004 Turun Taideyhdistys ry. In accordance with the will of his long-term treasurer, Henry Lönnfors, he received an artist's studio, which is given every three years to an atelier scholar chosen by the board of the Turku Art Association. The scholarship holder will have free access to a studio in Turku's Pool Park Turun Puolalanpuistossa for three years for artistic work. In the years 2018-2020, the artist Hertta Kiiski will be working in the studio.

Turun taidemuseo julkaisee myös taiteeseen liittyvää kirjallisuutta. Henry Lönnforsin miniatyyrejä esittelevä teos Amour unit deux cœurs – Henry Lönnforsin miniatyyrikokoelma valittiin vuonna 2009 vuoden kauneimmaksi teokseksi. Turku Art Museum also publishes literature related to art. Amour unit deux cœurs – Henry Lönnforsin miniatyyrikokoelma - Henry Lönnfors' miniature collection was selected as the most beautiful work of the year in 2009.

History
The business brothers Ernst and Magnus Dahlström are significant contributors to the visual arts. In April 1895, they initially donated an amount of FIM 150,000, equivalent to about € 644,000 in current money. The donation was originally intended to be used to build the City Library, but in 1897 another major donor, Fredric von Rettig Fredric von Rettig (1843-1914), made a donation to build the library building. This gave the Dahlström brothers the opportunity to focus on a building suitable for the visual arts.

In 1900, a closed competition was organized between four participants to find the architect. In addition to the Dahlström brothers, the jury included Victor Westerholm and architects Sebastian Gripenberg and S.M. Schjerfbeck. The competition ended equally between Professor Gustaf Nyström and architect trio Anders, Jung & Bomansson. Following the re-competition, the jury ordered one of Nyström's two proposals as the final starting point for the building.

The victory of Gustaf Nyström, a professor at the Polytechnic, was a source of criticism, especially among younger architects, who regarded Nyström's plan as outdated. However, Ernst Dahlström assured that the selection of the jury was unanimous and Nyström's plan was well in line with the competition rules and the wishes of the donors. The foundation stone of the museum building was laid on May 17, 1902. Alexander Rogatus Nyström (1869-1926), the younger brother of Gustaf Nyström, was the architect supervising the construction site of the Art Museum. The building was inaugurated on 20 April 1904 and had a total cost of FIM 461 000 (approximately EUR 1 658 000 in present value).

The monumental location of the Art Museum in Puolalanmäki, Turku, set special requirements for the façade. The facade material was red granite, which was attached to the brick wall. The granite capitals of the main entrance pilasters depict four fields of art to symbolize the Turku Art Museum: architecture, painting, sculpture and engineering. There are decorative faceted towers on both sides of the projecting main facade of the building. Its roof is a high-brushed, foldable, partial glass roof.

Renovation of the organ museum began in 1999 and was completed after six years. During the renovation, the Art Museum housed the old Observatory of the Turun Akatemian vanhassa tähtitornissa Turku Academy on Vartiovuori. With the renovation, the museum received Turun Akatemian vanhassa tähtitornissa. With the renovation, the museum received underground storage. Changes in the public areas included an elevator, a museum shop, a café and new toilets.

Together with Puolalanmäki, the Turku Art Museum forms a whole, which is one of the nationally significant built cultural environments defined by Museoviraston the National Board of Antiquities in 2009.

Collection and exhibitions
The extensive collection of the Turku Art Museum is owned by Konstföreningen i Åbo - Turku Art Association. The collection focuses on the Finnish Golden Age, Turku and nationally significant art made in the Turku area, Finnish and international Surrealism, nordic art, artist self-portraits, pop-henkinen taide pop art from the 1960s and contemporary art. The collection now includes about 7,000 works, which are displayed in alternating hangings on the second floor of the museum. On the second floor there is also a Studio presenting contemporary art and a darkroom focused on video art.

The first floor of the Turku Art Museum presents both new and old Finnish and foreign art in changing exhibitions. Notable exhibitions have included exhibitions of Carl Larssonin, Carl Larsson, Otto Mäkilän Otto Mäkilä and Reidar Särestöniemen Reidar Särestöniemi. In 2008, the museum hosted an exhibition of Stalinist art from the collection of the, whose works have never before been exhibited abroad. In the spring of 2013, an exhibition of Max Walter Svanbergin Max Walter Svanberg, the leading name in Swedish surrealism, will be opened at the Art Museum in co-operation with the Malmö Art Museum. In the spring of 2013, an exhibition of Max Walter Svanbergin Max Walter Svanberg, the leading name in Swedish surrealism, will be opened at the Art Museum in co-operation with the Malmö Art Museum.

In 2004, approximately one fifth of the works of the Turku Art Museum were received as donations. Donations have included works such as: Walter Runebergilta, Felix Nylundilta, Eero Järnefeltiltä, Akseli Gallen-Kallelalta, Albert Edelfeltiltä, Hugo Simbergiltä ja Ville Vallgrenilta.  The Friends of Turku Art Museum - Åbo Konstmusei Vänner, founded in 1985, is a major donor. The association has donated over 100 works to the Turku Art Museum for 30 years, which preserves them as a separate collection of Friends of the Turku Art Museum. The most generous donation in the history of the museum was made by Ernst Dahlström's grandson Nils Dahlström Nils Dahlström (1907-1978) in 1973. The collection donated nearly 100 works and included, in addition to the Golden Age art, modern Finnish art. In 2004, the Art Association of Turku received a testamentary donation from its long-term treasurer, Henry Lönnfors. The donation consisted of a large collection of miniatures and a selection of Finnish fine arts.

Over the decades, museum acquisitions have been guided by museum directors, members of the Arts Association board, and many others involved in museum operations. The Turku Art Museum's collection is a significant part of the national cultural heritage, and the museum can be considered as the second national gallery in our country.

Pictures

 * Kokoelmista