Veikkaus’ art sale open to all was a public success. Purchase decisions were discussed in the crowd and art did its business.
Several hundred buyers came to Veikkaus’ first art sale, most of them from the capital region.
The first visitors were already in line at the company’s old headquarters in Vantaa at seven o’clock in the morning, three hours before the start of the event.
Those waiting in line had prepared for the wait by bringing a picnic chair, something to read and by dressing warmly.
– I’m a morning person, so what’s up.
– There is a completely open wall in the kitchen, which should have a painting that looks like someone else’s.
One hundred people were taken inside at a time. The number of purchases was also limited to one.
The walls of the two halls were quickly emptied of works.
Veikkaus sells 800 works
Veikkaus organizes two art sales events in October, of which the Saturday event in Vantaa was the first.
The gambling company sells a total of 800 works from its collection of more than a thousand works.
– We would like to manage our art collection better. Now there have been a lot of works in stock, because Veikkaus has sold its premises and has moved to modern premises. We have no more wall space for art.
The prices of the works range from 100 to 8,000 euros
The oldest works for sale are from the 1930s and the newest from the 2000s.
Veikkaus has calculated that if all the works are sold, the revenue from the two sales of works will be around half a million euros.
– The income goes to the normal pattern for grant recipients, says Anna Segercrantz, director of acquisitions and facilities.
Veikkaus is just one of the companies reducing its art collection. For example, Posti sold part of its art collection to customers in 2018. Over the years, companies have acquired art to decorate offices, for example.
One of the reasons for abandoning collections is a lack of resources. Maintenance of the art collection requires professional staff.
– I am very satisfied with my purchase. It is better that Veikkaus sells his works to the public than that they are only in storage.