Artek Artek 85 Anniversary poster

The Artek 85 Anniversary poster features a painting, by Finnish artist Karoliina Hellberg, of a detail of Alvar and Aino Aalto’s home in Helsinki, Finland. Depicting two Riihitie flowerpots, designed by Aino Aalto, the painting elegantly captures Aaltos’ attention to detail and how they regarded the garden as one of the rooms of the house.

The original artwork, “Garden as a Room”, was born after Hellberg’s visit to The Aalto House, the former home of architects and Artek co-founders, Alvar and Aino Aalto, that now functions as a museum. The artist sketched details of the home’s garden, in particular, where her attention was drawn to the flowerpots standing on the terrace – only later did she find out that they were from Aino Aalto’s pen and nowadays part of Artek’s assortment. The original artwork was created using mixed media: watercolors, acrylic paints and ink.