Arttu Brummer-Korvenkontio (1891-1951)
interior architect
Arttu Brummer-Korvenkontio was an influential figure in applied art and design in Finland from the 1910s to the 1950s. (He appears to have stopped using the second part of his surname around 1927). Brummer graduated as a furniture designer, i.e. interior architect from the Central School of Art and Crafts in Helsinki in 1913, and before long he founded his own design office. Brummer designed furniture for both private citizens and significant public works, including Parliament House (1930), the Metsätalo building (1939), the Main Building of the University of Helsinki (1936-1937, 1939), the Main Post Office in Helsinki (1938), the Atlas bank (1929) and Teuva Church (1929). Brummer’s style was traditional, perhaps slightly aristocratic, refined, appreciative of craftsmanship and emphasizing its importance.
Brummer’s career in glass design began in 1932 with a competition declared by the Karhula-Iittala glassworks in which he received first prize of a vase of air-bubble glass in the art-glass series. Before long, he was engaged as a designer with the Riihimäki glassworks; this collaboration continued until his death. He also designed art-glass at Riihimäki, many of these pieces being commissioned works and valuable gifts. In 1945, for example, he designed the Finlandia vase as a gift in honour of Jean Sibelius’s 80th birthday.
Heraldry was one of Brummer’s specialities, and he designed the coats of arms of several Finnish municipalities. After the Second World War, he concentrated on designing monuments for cemeteries of the war dead, and other items commemorating the war.
Arttu Brummer made an unsurpassed contribution in educating and instructing young designers. He taught general design, form theory, furniture design and heraldry at the Central School of Arts and Crafts from the 1920s until his death. He was also the artistic director of the school from 1944 until 1951. Brummer was a legendary and inspiring teacher with the ability to identify talent among his students. He helped young designers to get started in their careers. It has been said that for this reason the international success of Finnish design in the 1950s was largely due to him.
The Museum of Applied Arts (the predecessor of Design Museum Helsinki) was a significant area of work for Arttu Brummer, who was the museum’s keeper from 1927 until 1951. He was also the commissioner of many exhibitions of applied art and design. Brummer served as chairman of the Ornamo designer association on several occasions and was involved in the administration of the Finnish Society of Crafts and Design. Since the 1920s, he played an instrumental role in the work and artistic course of the Friends of Finnish Handicraft as its chairman and a member of its board.
Brummer was an active writer and critic, with comments on art, applied art and even genealogy. He was editor-in-chief of the Domus magazine from 1930 to 1933.
Auli Suortti-Vuorio
Bibliography:
Aav, Marianne (ed.), Arttu Brummer – taideteollisuuden tulisielu. Taideteollisen korkeakoulun julkaisuja B 20. Helsinki 1991.
Kalha, Harri, Arttu Brummer. Taiteellinen johtaja 1944-51. In: Ateneum Maskerad. Taideteollisuuden muotoja ja murroksia. Helsinki 1999.
Hagelstam, Wenzel et al., Uusi antiikkikirja 1900-1980. Hämeenlinna 2003.
Helkama, Iris, Arttu Brummer. Pro arte decorativa. Form Function Finland vol. 4/1991.
Pajastie, Eila, Arttu Brummerin huonekaluja ja niiden ajallista taustaa / Arttu Brummers möbler och tidsbakgrund. Suomen Taideteollisuusyhdistyksen vuosikirja / Konstflitföreningen i Finlands årsbok 1969, s. 23-38. Helsinki / Helsingfors 1969.
Photos:
Hyökyaalto (Tidal Wave) vase (Riihimäki glassworks 1935)
Arttu Brummer began to design for the Riihimäki glassworks in 1933. Hyökyaalto (Tidal Wave) is probably the best-known of his glass vases of the 1930s. Made of smoke-grey crystal, it has traditional forms and classicist design. The underwater world was one of Brummer’s favourite themes. This vase was on show at the Brussels World’s Fair of 1935 and the Paris World’s Fair of 1937, where it was given as a gift to the President of France. Photo Design Museum / Pietinen
The Finlandia vase (Riihimäki glassworks 1945)
The most famous design object by Arttu Brummer is the Finlandia vase, an 80th-birthday gift for the composer Jean Sibelius. The language of form of this piece represents a period of change, when a national theme and modern form became merged. The vase is sculptural and abstract, and its style prefigures the new Finnish glass of the 1950s. Photo Erkki Vaalle / Design Museum
The Karhu (Bear) vase (Riihimäki glassworks 1935)
National themes were typical of Finnish glass design in the 1930s. In Brummer’s oeuvre, the Bear vase belongs to this period. The amethyst-coloured, engraved vase was made of crystal. Photo Design Museum
Lobby bench for the University of Helsinki (1936-1937)
Arttu Brummer was originally trained as a furniture designer, or interior architect. His earliest designs reflect his romantic spirit and admiration of the Middle Ages. Brummer’s furniture of the 1930s is mainly classicist in style. He designed, among other items, furniture for the lobby and senate meeting rooms of the new administration building of the University of Helsinki. He also designed furniture for the Department of Forestry of the University of Helsinki, which was built in 1939. Photo PF-Studio / Design Museum
