| Abstrakt: |
Even in his own lifetime, Amos Anderson (1878-1961) was almost a legend in Finland. The son of a smallholder from Kimito in the Turku archipelago, he advanced rapidly in the business world after he moved to Helsinki in 1902. From being a clerk in a small Turku insurance company, he progressed quickly to the position of director and graphics industry magnate, and the owner/editor-in-chief of Hufvudstadsbladet, Finland's largest Swedish-language national daily. He was twice elected to Parliament during the 1920s, was invested with the title of Industrial Counsellor in recognition of his services to commerce, and received an honorary doctorate from Åbo Akademi. Today the name of Amos Anderson is perhaps most closely associated with the Amos Anderson Museum of Art in the heart of Helsinki. The Museum's history goes back to 1940, when Amos Anderson founded the Society for Promotion of the Arts, which he later made the sole beneficiary of his will. The aims of the Society include the promotion of art, drama and music. In the pictorial arts, this is primarily achieved by running the Museum, granting scholarships, acquiring works of art and arranging exhibitions, mainly of modern art. The Society for Promotion of the Arts today has a budget of nearly FIM 3 million for the pictorial arts and for the running of the Museum. Amos Anderson was not a great art collector himself. His interest in art and artists manifested itself in other ways. He was a patron of the arts in the true sense of the word, making donations to both individuals and organizations. It was his generous contributions, for example, which enabled the Helsinki Art Exhibition Hall to be built at the end of the 1920s, and it was due to his efforts that the Institutum Romanum Finlandiae was set up at the Villa Lante, in Rome, in the 1950s. He provided financial backing and took an active part in the administration of e.g. Åbo Akademi and the Svenska Teatern, Helsinki, where he financed the structural alterations made in the 1930s. The art collections at the Amos Anderson Museum, Helsinki, and at his former summer residence, Söderlångvik, in Kimito, reflect the tastes of their founder. The main emphasis of the Finnish collection is on the art of the 1920s to l940s; the works from the 16th and 17th century are generally of religious subjects. Amos Anderson was profoundly interested in church art, particularly Mediaeval church art, and published a book on the subject. He also gave financial support to the restoration of Turku Cathedral, Kimito church and the church of the Bridgittine convent in Naantali. He set up a small chapel in his own home in Helsinki, with stained glass windows and an organ. He was very interested in sacred music and often financed choirs on tour in Finland and abroad, particularly Italy, for whose art and culture he had a special affection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
