On September 19 the Estonian National Museum opened an art exhibition that displays 200 artworks from the collection of Viinistu Art Museum. This is the first time such an extensive part of this private collection has been displayed at another exhibition site.

Viinistu Art Museum opened in 2002 and belongs to Jaan Manitski. The museum started with a few hundred artworks and has now grown to include thousands. The collection is constantly being developed. A part of this art collection, which includes artworks by 116 artists from the early 20th century to the present day, is now temporarily on display at the Estonian National Museum.

“We have many private collections, but only one private art museum,” said the exhibition’s curator Reet Mark. “The collection of Viinistu Art Museum is curated by a collector with excellent taste and a good eye for art. It is a great pleasure and a privilege to work with such material.”

The museum also displays the artwork that started it all. “The first piece I bought was Punane lend by Jüri Arrak,” said Jaan Manitski, owner of the collection. “In the mid-90s, I started to visit art exhibitions, galleries and auctions more frequently and I had a revelation. It opened my eyes to something new.”

From then on, artworks have been added to the collection, some of them in quite unusual ways. “I happened to witness a painting being thrown into a waste container during the renovation of the lobby of a large hotel,” Manitski tells the story of the acquisition of the valuable artwork. “It was by Andres Tolts! I saved it from ruin and gifted it to a school. I later bought it back at an auction.”

The exhibition is open in the B-side of the museum building from 19 September to the beginning of April 2020. Viinistu Art Museum will maintain its regular hours during this time and welcomes all art enthusiasts.
 
More information: Estonian National Museum website or Estonian National Museum Exhibition Producer and curator of the exhibition Reet Mark, reet.mark@erm.ee, tel. 736 3084.


Photo: Anu Ansu