Collected volume unveils previously unseen writings and speeches by Gösta Serlachius

Parvs & Serlachius has published a collected volume of Gösta Serlachius’s writings and speeches. It was released in 2026 and edited by Pauli Sivonen and Helena Hänninen. The 304‑page book, with a pictorial supplement, will be discussed at the Helsinki Book Fair on Thursday 22 October at 16:00 in the Suomenlinna Hall.

The volume brings together memoirs, essays and public addresses that portray Serlachius as a determined, sometimes self-important figure deeply concerned with his legacy. Key texts include his memoir Minnesanteckningar (Memoirs, 1928), Till mina söner (To My Sons, 1933), and the essay Mitt intresse för konst (My Interest in Art, 1942). Most pieces appear in print for the first time, the book notes say.

The editors present Serlachius not only as an avid art collector, whose holdings became one of the largest private collections in the Nordic countries, but also as a patron of architecture and a leading economic and political figure in Mänttä. They emphasise his role in founding institutions, shaping museum practice and commissioning buildings in the town together with noted architects.

A substantial image section draws on Serlachius family and company archives. Photographs listed include childhood portraits of Birger and Gösta Serlachius, scenes of Mänttä from the 1920s to 1930s, archival product catalogues from G. A. Serlachius, and a 1938 photograph showing Marshal Mannerheim with Gösta Serlachius at the unveiling of a war memorial. Pauli Sivonen, director of Serlachius, and Susanna Serlachius-Pressler, vice-chair of the Gösta Serlachius Art Foundation, will present and discuss the book at the fair.

The new volume follows other Serlachius publications and exhibitions tracing the family’s role in building Mänttä’s art collection a recent book and exhibition and a Parvs collaboration documenting Anish Kapoor’s Mänttä sculpture the 152‑page Anish Kapoor book.