Säästäjä / The Saver

“The Saver” relief is located on the corner of a building built by the architect, Antero Pernaja. Co-operation between Gunnar Finne and Pernaja, the designer of the Postipankki headquarters, was very successful. Opportunities for co-operation between architects’ and sculptors’ was a major objective for Ornamo, the Finnish Association of Designers, to which also Finne belonged.

The yellowish façade of Pernaja’s building and the relief’s material are in perfect harmony. The relief’s size and placement, in the curving corner of the building, has required considerable planning from both Pernaja and Finne. Gunnar Finne’s style has clear references to Classicism, and it has been described as stylized and architectural. His skill in reconciling sculptural ornamentation with architecture and his comprehensive approach brought him innumerable commissions and offers for cooperation from architects.

“The Saver” relief depicts people gathering their livelihood from a fantasy tree. The composition places the figures around the tree in a way which ties the viewer to the work. One of the figures has its back towards the viewer, indicating that the space continues both into the image and towards the viewer. The figures are shaped in a clear, yet massive style. Especially one of the figures, a woman, is reminiscent of those of the French painter Fernand Léger (1881-1955), formed from massive basic geometrical shapes.

The work doesn’t belong to the collections of the Helsinki Art Museum.