The first Laureus´s works were acquired three years after the Finnish Art Society was founded in 1849: six of Lauréus’s own works and three copies made by him. The second important period of acquisition of Lauréus’s works began in the 1890s. At that time, art collector Eliel Aspelin began systematically buying the artist’s works from Sweden to bring them back “home”.
Hanne Selkokari, PhD, works as curator in the Ateneum Art Museum, Finnish National Gallery. She has reseached the collecting of art, the history of museum collections and exhibitions and the travels of the art researchers.