Collections

History

The Tampere Art Society, that initially maintained the museum, was founded in 1898. The Society had already acquired its first paintings at the beginning of the last century. Since then the collection has gradually developed both through donations, deposits and acquisitions.

The works in the collection

Alexander Lauréus: Travellers Resting at the Fire, 1817

The collection covers paintings, prints, drawings and sculpture; over 7000 works from approximately 670 artists. The majority of the works is Finnish art from the early 19th century onwards. The oldest Finnish works in the collection are the Early Romantic paintings by Alexander Lauréus. Most of the older art dates back to the late 19th century with several examples from the most prominent Finnish painters. The 20th century is emphasized in the collections and, above all, they offer an overview of the local artist's life. The most widely represented artists from Tampere from the first decades of the century are Kaarlo Vuori, Gabriel Engberg, Kalle Löytänä and Lennu Juvela; examples of more recent artists are Reino Viirilä and Matti Petäjä.

Deposits

Mauno Kivioja: Medal X, 1970

The collection also includes several deposits. The most comprehensive of these is the Finnish Medal Art Guild's collection, which presents a wide overview of the development of content and style in medal art in the 20th century. Even from an international point of view, the collection is one of the most significant in the world. The collection is being added to all the time and consists of about 2000 medals at the present.

Moominvalley

The collection in the Moominmuseum, which is a relatively independent unit, includes original illustrations of the Moomin books by Tove Jansson, other book illustrations, drawings for magazines and Moomin tableaux, mostly made by Tuulikki Pietilä.

Tove Jansson: Moomin Niisku