Janne Sirén

Janne Sirén (born September 29, 1970, in Helsinki) is a Finnish art historian and the Peggy Pierce Elfvin Director of the Albright-Knox Art Gallery in Buffalo, New York.[1] Before joining the Albright-Knox, Sirén served as Director and City of Helsinki Department Chief at the Helsinki Art Museum from 2007 to 2013. Prior to that, he served as Director of the Tampere Art Museum from 2004 to 2007.[1]

Janne Sirén
Janne Sirén in 2009.
BornSeptember 29, 1970
Helsinki, Finland
EducationCollege of the Holy Cross
New York University Institute of Fine Arts
OccupationMuseum Director
OrganizationAlbright-Knox Art Gallery

Early life and education

Sirén was born in Helsinki, Finland, the son of Aivi Gallen-Kallela and Matti Sirén. He is the great-grandson of Akseli Gallen-Kallela, a painter whose work is considered to be extremely important to Finnish national identity.[2]

Sirén attended College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts, where he majored in art history and took courses on philosophy and Italian language and culture. After obtaining his B.A. in 1993, he pursued an M.A. at the New York University Institute of Fine Arts.[1] There he wrote two qualifying papers—one in his major field titled “Intersecting Paths in the History of Modern European Painting: An Investigation of Edvard Munch’s Influence on Henri Matisse, 1895–1908,” and a second in his minor field titled “Melodies in Blue and White: Luca della Robbia at Santa Maria Impruneta and the Cultural Stance of Terracotta Invetriata in Quattrocento Florence.”

In 2001, Sirén received his PhD from the Institute of Fine Arts. His dissertation, “Axel Gallén and the Constructed Nation: Art and Nationalism in Young Finland, 1880–1900,” discussed the role the work of his grandfather played in the construction of Finnish national identity.[3] It was nominated by the Institute of Fine Arts Faculty Committee for New York University’s “Outstanding Dissertation of the Year” award. His dissertation advisor was pioneering feminist and post-colonialist art historian Linda Nochlin.[3]

Career

Sirén began his professional career in the Department of Art History at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, where he was an assistant professor from 2000 to 2004. His teaching included courses on American and European art from the Renaissance to the present, aesthetics, critical theory, and museology.[4]

In 2004, Sirén began his tenure as Director of the Tampere Art Museum in southern Finland. While there, he also served as Deputy Director of the Tampere Museums Department. In 2007, he left Tampere and accepted the position of Director and City of Helsinki Department Chief at the Helsinki Art Museum. The museum’s collection comprises more than 9,000 works, nearly half of which are on display in public locations in and around Helsinki.[5]

In 2013, Sirén returned to the United States and joined the Albright-Knox Art Gallery in Buffalo, New York, as Peggy Pierce Elfvin Director. He was preceded at the Albright-Knox by Louis Grachos, who was appointed the Ernest and Sarah Butler Executive Director and CEO of The Contemporary Austin in 2013.[6] At the Albright-Knox, Sirén oversees a world-renowned collection of modern and contemporary art containing more than 7,000 artworks.[7] He has curated or co-curated several major exhibitions, including Anselm Kiefer: Beyond Landscape (2013), Monet and the Impressionist Revolution, 1860–1910 (2015), and Picasso: The Artist and His Models (2016).[8]

Sirén’s tenure at the Albright-Knox has been defined by a massive campus expansion project entitled AK360. He has overseen all aspects of the project and has spearheaded a $155 million capital campaign. Under his leadership, the Albright-Knox raised $125 million between June 2016 and March 2018, including a $42.5 million matching challenge from businessman and investor Jeffrey Gundlach, the largest single philanthropic gift in the history of Western New York.[9] In November 2017, Gundlach announced a second AK360 matching challenge of $10 million for funds raised through November 2018.[10]

Personal life

Sirén lives in Buffalo, New York, with his wife Sonja, whom he met in Israel while she was pursuing her doctoral studies on security policy and human rights in Nordic countries. They have three children.

Selected publications
  • The Impressionist Revolution and the Advent of Abstract Art. Buffalo: Albright-Knox Art Gallery. 2016.
  • Giving Up One’s Mark: Helen Frankenthaler in the 1960s and 1970s. Buffalo: Albright-Knox Art Gallery. 2014.
  • Anselm Kiefer: Beyond Landscape. Buffalo: Albright-Knox Art Gallery. 2014.
  • Painters of the Soul: Symbolism in France 1880-1910. Edited with an introductory essay by Janne Sirén, Jean-David Jumeau-Lafond, et al. Tampere Art Museum Publications. 2007.
  • Envoys of Humanism: Italian Art Treasures from the Collection of the National Museum in Belgrade. Edited with an introductory essay by Janne Sirén, Tapani Pennanen, and Johanna Vakkari. Tampere Art Museum Publications. 2005.
  • "Creative Helsinki: The Pursuit of Public Art," in Wilson Meet Wirkkala: The Story of Tapo Wirkkala Park Designed by Robert Wilson. Edited by Tuula Isohanni. Helsinki: Aalto ARTS Books. 2012. 44-51.
  • "German Antisemitism and the Historiography of Modern Art: The Case of Julius Meier-Graefe, 1895-1904," in Jewish Dimension in Modern Visual Culture: Antisemitism, Assimilation, Affirmation. Edited by Rose-Carol Washton Long, Matthew Baigell, Milly Heyd. Waltham, Mass.: Brandeis University Press. 2010.

Notes
  1. "Q&A: Janne Sirén", Maria Scrivani, Buffalo Spree, July 2013.
  2. "Biography of Akseli Gallen-Kallela," Biografiakeskus.
  3. Completed Dissertations 2000-2009, New York University Institute of Fine Arts.
  4. Janne Sirén, Creative Arts Initiative, University at Buffalo.
  5. Brian Boucher, "Janne Sirén Appointed Director of Albright-Knox Art Gallery". Art in America, January 14, 2013.
  6. "Louis Grachos named Executive Director at Austin Museum of Art-Arthouse," Art Daily.
  7. "Fine Art Collection," Albright-Knox Art Gallery, accessed March 20, 2018.
  8. Janne Sirén, PhD, Albright-Knox Art Gallery.
  9. Katya Kazakina, "Gundlach Donates $42.5 million to Buffalo's Albright-Knox". Bloomberg, September 23, 2016.
  10. Colin Dabkowski, "Gundlach pledges $10 million more to Albright-Knox expansion", The Buffalo News, November 29, 2017.
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