Pirkko Pasanen, an art collector from Muuruvesi who has long worked in Helsinki, has donated an art collection to Kuopio Art Museum. The collection consists of a number of works, which are mainly Finnish contemporary art from the 1970’s and onwards. Among other artist’s works the collection includes works by Reijo Huhtanen and Sinikka Tuominen, who both passed away this year. The exhibition “Woman of Woman”, which is dedicated to Huhtanen and Tuominen, presents works from the donated collection. The exhibition is on display at Kuopio Art Museum from 27 August to 1 September and, as its name suggests, celebrates female artists and the arrival of a female collector’s collection to Kuopio.
The Collection and Kuopio Art Museum
In her own words, Pasanen has thought a lot about why she wants to donate the collection to Kuopio Art Museum. She believes that the desire to donate the collection comes from her late father, Martti Pasanen, a building contractor from Muuruvesi. Muuruvesi sports field and the church organ Among other things, were donated by Martti Pasanen. Pirkko Pasanen says: ‘I learned how to donate from home because my father donated many times. The fact that I have no grandchildren also played a role in this donation.’
Anna Vilkuna, Director of Kuopio Art Museum, comments: ‘Pasanen collection is a great addition to the collections of Kuopio Art Museum. The collection includes a variety of interesting lines, such as small-scale sculpture, a collection bought from young artists and works by women artists on women’s themes.’ The donation was received at the opening of the exhibition Woman of Woman on Monday 26 August 2024.
Pirkko Pasanen
Pirkko Pasanen’s childhood was already full of art and artists. Her father was an art lover and artists such as Susanna Nykyri and Eva Cederström lived in their home in Muuruvesi. Susanna Nykyri painted a lot of horse portraits at a nearby country school in the 1940’s, but for the Pasanen family she paid her living by painting pictures of the scenery from their house. Eva Cederström, on the other hand, painted portraits of each member of the Pasanen family as a custom work.
Pirkko Pasanen herself was also interested in a career as an artist when she was young, but instead of becoming an artist, she decided to pursue a different career after high school. Instead of creating, she began to admire the handwork of others: ‘I turned my doubts about my own artistic abilities into a desire to enjoy the work of others’. While living in Puistola, Helsinki she was surrounded by artists, and she began to acquire art by buying work from neighbours such as Rauni Liuko and Gunnar Uotila. In 1980 Pasanen’s work took her to Los Angeles for three years: ‘When I returned to Finland from the States, I was overwhelmed. So enchanted was I with the Finnish art scene at the time!’ It was then that Pasanen became familiar with the galleries in Helsinki, especially Galleria Sculptor.
After returning to Finland, Pasanen’s acquisition of art reached a new level. She bought works by artists who were much exhibited at the time, such as Teemu Saukkonen, Kari Cáven, Reijo Hukkanen, Martti Aiha and Leena Luostarinen. But Pasanen did not see herself as a collector: ‘It’s certain that if it had occurred to me to start a collection, I would have asked someone for advice and consultation.’ Later, while collecting art, Pasanen also made friends with artists. She socialised a lot in art circles and her friend group was, and still is, made up of artists. She now counts most of the artists whose work she has in the collection as her friends.
Some works by her collection, such as works by Reijo Hukkanen, Irina Zatulovskaya, Kari Cavén and Teemu Saukkonen, has previously been donated by Pasanen to the Finnish Museum of Contemporary Art Kiasma. Works from the collection donated to Kuopio can be seen in the exhibition Woman of Woman – Works from the Pirkko Pasanen Collection from 27 August to 1 September 2024.
