Michael Heizer Perforated Object 11, 1990-'93
A selection in our upcoming New Now sale in New York, Dr. Pentti Kouri's prestigious art collection interrogates the limits of modern and contemporary art within the structural forms of minimalism. A venture capitalist with ties to Nokia among other companies, Dr. Kouri first began collecting in the 1980s. From the outset, he rigorously pursued the finest quality works by some of the most important artists of his time. His dedication and patronage lay not only in the art he admired but extended to the artists themselves, following their lives and works over many decades.
Dr. Kouri valued the personal relationships he cultivated with the artists whose works comprised his collection, engaging directly with their practices. Led by his singular aesthetic vision, Dr. Kouri acquired challenging, large-scale works by artists such as Jannis Kounellis, Giuseppe Penone, Antony Gormley, John Armleder and Michael Heizer, championing their practices well in advance of the market recognition they enjoy today.
Tim Hawkinson Lens, 2002
Dr. Kouri was at the forefront of contemporary tastes, collecting Arte de Povera founding member Giuseppe Penone's monumental sculpture, Fingernail and Marble (Unghia e marmo), 1988, well in advance of the prominent place the artist and movement would subsequently gain in academic and collecting circles. Along with Penone's meditative sculpture, Dr. Kouri also expanded into the conceptual wall-based typographic text art of Lawrence Weiner and the glamorous signage of Sylvie Fleury's brand slogan lights, seen in her piece entitled Be Amazing from 1999.
Sylvie Fleury Be Amazing, 1999
With a sustained interest in the way installation can inform and alter the space of the viewer, Dr. Kouri's collection expands upon this exploration on a personal scale, engaging art that offers an enveloping site-specific experience. As a member of the Board of Trustees of Dia Art Foundation, Dr. Kouri was privy to the most cutting edge and immersive installation art. His awareness of art of vast scale and complex installation, work that moved beyond the boundaries of the painted canvas, led him to create such a collection with the finest examples of each artist's practice. Thanks to Dr. Kouri's influential patronage, these artists now stand in the art historical cannon with everlasting poignancy.
(Left) Francis Cape Forest Park III, 1999-'03; (Right) Robert Therrien No Title (Brown Dutch Doors), 1999
Dr. Kouri's unparalleled support of artists led him to become a significant member of many public art boards including Dia as well as the International Council Executive Committee of the Tate, London and the President's Council of the Guggenheim Museum, New York. Dr. Kouri left a great legacy in his significant gift to the Kiasma Museum of Contemporary Art of Helsinki, located in his home country of Finland. The museum's director Berndt Arell fondly refers to Dr. Kouri’s donated works as "the heart and soul of Kiasma’s art collection."
Jonathan Borofsky The Sun at 3,214,887, 1989
The group of works clearly conveys Dr. Kouri's unique vision and personal perspective, and elegantly communicates the joy and fulfillment he found in both sharing and engaging with art. This sentiment is perhaps best expressed by an artist represented in Dr. Kouri's collection, Giuseppe Penone once noting that art has "the need and the search for balance, which exists in every living being."