Cultural Heritage from the Vyborg Art Museum
It was at the end of the 1940s that they started planning the establishing of an art museum in Hämeenlinna on the initiative of professor Rurik Lindqvist, the painter. Lindqvist was a teacher and the director of Vyborg School of Fine Arts as well as the Vyborg Art Museum curator. Hämeenlinna was the town where Rurik Lindqvist had spent his childhood. After the war he settled in Helsinki, but he took an active part part in the cultural life of his former home town.
The Vyborg Art Museum collection, evacuated in 1939 because of the Second World War, was preserved in the Peura museum in Rautalampi. In 1950, the collection was deposited in the cities of Lahti and Hämeenlinna.
A good example for Hämeenlinna to follow was the city of Tampere where in 1931 the former granary designed by Carl Ludvig Engel had been renovated for museum use. In 1949, the city of Hämeenlinna bought two former state granaries in the town district called Keinusaari close to the city centre. Under the guidance of the municipal architect Olavi Sahlberg one of the granaries, designed by C.L.Engel, was repaired and converted into exhibition facilities.
When the Hämeenlinna Art Museum opened its doors to the public on May 24, 1952, the former works of the Vyborg Art Museum became a real public attraction at the opening exhibition. They are masterpieces of Finnish art and the most beloved treasures of the Hämeenlinna Art Museum. These works have made up the core of the museum collection. They are also the basis for arranging exhibitions and publishing work of the museum.
Viimeksi muokattu
19.3.2009
