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23. ERNST METHER-BORGSTRÖM,
30 October - 29 January 1984

The exhibition of works by Ernst Mether-Borgström (b. 1917 Helsinki, d. 1996 Helsinki) continued the series of previous exhibitions on Finnish artists, such as Erik Enroth (1980), Jaakko Sievänen (1981), Kimmo Kaivanto (1982), and Kauko Lehtinen (1983). The upper of the museum was used for the exhibition.

A real pioneer in Finnish art, Mether-Borgström was an exponent of Constructivism.

The exhibition comprised almost three hundred of Ernst Mether-Borgström's paintings, graphic art and sculptures, three-dimensional metal constructions and their corresponding maquettes.

The objective of the Mether-Borgström's retrospective exhibition was to present the artist as a painter, sculptor and graphic artist. His early figurative paintings clearly show how
the desire for clear constructive form has been characteristic of his art right from the very beginning. It was early in the 1950s that Mether-Borgström made a geometric, abstract, and intellectually emphasized form of expression his particular artistic idiom. Ernst Mether-Borgström can, with good reason, be regarded as one of the most important contributors to the Constructivist movement in Finland. His art expresses a true feeling for nuances in his use of colour, which is combined with a dynamic approach to composition and to kinetic motifs. Another characteristic feature of his Constructivist form of expression is his frequent use of free elements which have associations with the world of nature, although these do not, at any stage, succeed in dominating the harmony of the pure, carefully-considered form and colours.

Catalogue:
Ernst Mether-Borgström
1984, 36 pages
Sara Hildén Art Museum Publication 18 (Text in Finnish, Swedish and English)
ISSN 0357-3001
Price FIM 10

The exhibition was attended by 9,163 visitors