In January, the Alvar Aalto Museum will be taken over by an exhibition of collector Pertti Männistö’s superb private Aalto collection, Diverse Design – 30 years of passionate collecting.

Männistö’s collecting began gradually, starting in 1992 when he acquired a prototype of an armchair designed by Alvar Aalto. Today, the collection comprises more than a thousand objects and includes not only pieces of furniture, lights and glass objects, but also details of interiors designed by Aino and Alvar Aalto. Various prototypes and other rarities stand out from the ranks of furniture serially produced from standardized components.

What makes the collection particularly interesting is its completeness. When systematically collected, the different variants on the same model of furniture shed light on the arc of development of a specific object, with each item completing the whole picture of the Aaltos’ design. The collection particularly represents the very first steps of Aino and Alvar Aalto’s industrial design. It demonstrates what versatile designers the Aaltos were, and the dedication with which they threw themselves into design work aimed at creating a beautiful, high-quality everyday environment.

Objects from Pertti Männistö’s Aalto collection have previously been exhibited in Finland and abroad, but this is the first time the collection is being shown on such a large scale to a broad pubic in Finland. It says something not just about the objects in this unique collection, but also about the collector’s passion, about an uncompromising thirst for knowledge, about the power of networking, and about the joy of discovery.

When the exhibition ends on April 25, 2021, the Alvar Aalto Museum will close for complete renovation of the Museum building. The restored museum will be open to the public again in August 2023.

Alvar Aalto Foundation is grateful for Artek’s help with the exhibition.

Further information:
Curator Mari Murtoniemi
+358 40 355 9162
mari.murtoniemi@alvaraalto.fi

DIVERSE DESIGN – 30 YEARS OF PASSIONATE COLLECTING
Pertti Männistö’s Aalto collection
Alvar Aalto Museum Gallery 7.1–25.4.2021
Open Tue–Sun 11–18
Alvar Aalto’s katu 7, Jyväskylä, Finland
www.alvaraalto.fi

Photo Anssi Vaarola.

The news is updated 15.2.2021.