08-02-2017

Mostra Alvar Aalto – Art and the Modern Form

Alvar Aalto,

Helsinki, Finland,

Museums,

Design,

Exhibition, Arts,

A large retrospective dedicated to Alvar Aalto, Finland's most famous architect and designer, coproduced by Vitra Design Museum and Alvar Aalto Museum will be presented in a number of countries.



  1. Blog
  2. News
  3. Mostra Alvar Aalto – Art and the Modern Form

Mostra Alvar Aalto – Art and the Modern Form A large retrospective dedicated to Alvar Aalto, Finland's most famous architect and designer, coproduced by Vitra Design Museum and Alvar Aalto Museum will be presented in a number of countries. At the Ateneum Art Museum in Helsinki, the exhibition will be expanded to also feature works by his close friends, including Hans Arp, Alexander Calder, Fernand Léger and László Moholy-Nagy.


If you haven't yet had the opportunity to see one of the standout retrospectives celebrating Alvar Aalto (1898-1976), renowned Finnish architect and designer, as well as one of the most influential players in modernism with his wife Aino Aalto, we've got good news: at Ateneum Art Museum in Helsinki from 11 May to 24 September 2017 - perfect timing for a holiday in Finland - you can enjoy “Alvar Aalto – Art and the Modern Form”.
The exhibition - coproduced by Vitra Design Museum and Alvar Aalto Museum (at the Vitra, the exhibition title is “Alvar Aalto. Second Nature”) - at the Ateneum Art Museum in Helsinki is rounded out with artworks by some of his close artist friends including Hans Arp, Alexander Calder, Fernand Léger and László Moholy-Nagy, because Aalto is part of the large creative network of the modern age.
As Museum director, Susanna Pettersson says: “Alvar Aalto’s work showed a broad understanding of the arts. His circle of acquaintances included a large number of people who were agents of change in their time and who sought new forms of expression. We want to highlight these connections.” All the more so if you think of the idea of “Gesamtkunstwerk” - a total work of art - that was so important to Aalto, who worked across multiple disciplines, including architecture, urban planning, design, and art.
“Alvar Aalto – Art and the Modern Form” therefore moves along these lines and opens visitors up to the idea of architects connected to the world of art. Alvar and Aino Aalto founded Artek together with art collector and patron Maire Gullichsen and art historian and writer Nils-Gustav Hahl back in 1935. The goal of the initiative was to combine business with art education and advertising, and over the years this led to a number of exhibitions and purchases of works, a wide selection of which will be displayed during this exhibition highlighting Artek's role as a furniture and design company in the world of Finnish art.

Christiane Bürklein

Exhibition “Alvar Aalto – Art and the Modern Form”
11 May to 24 September 2017
Location: Ateneum Art Museum, Helsinki, Finland
Images: courtesy of Ateneum Art Museum – see captions
Tuberculosis sanatorium, Paimio, Finland, Alvar Aalto, 1928-1933. © Alvar Aalto Museum
Armin Linke, 2014: Viipuri (Vyborg) City Library, Vyborg, Karelia (today Russia), Alvar Aalto (1927-1935). © Armin Linke
Armin Linke, 2014: Villa Mairea, Noormarkku, Finland, Alvar Aalto, (1938). © Armin Linke
Armin Linke, 2014: Maison Louis Carré, Bazoches-sur-Guyonne, France, Alvar Aalto (1956–1959, 1961–1963). © Armin Linke
Aino Aalto in Paimio chair, photo montage, 1930s. © Alvar Aalto Museum, Artek Collection.
Find out more: http://www.ateneum.fi

×
×

Stay in touch with the protagonists of architecture, Subscribe to the Floornature Newsletter