Swedbank hangs a kilometre of art in its new building

Swedbank has decorated the walls of its new building with the bank's art collection, which contains 340 works primarily from the 1990s. The collection includes graphics, mixed media works, and oil paintings. Among the most visible names are Leonhard Lapin, whose works recur on multiple walls.

Swedbank employees work in their Tallinn's new building as if in an art gallery, with the bank's walls hung with an impressive art collection spanning roughly a kilometre of paintings and graphics.

340 works under one roof

The bank's collection comprises 340 artworks, predominantly from the 1990s. The majority are graphic prints and mixed media pieces, with oil paintings represented by around fifty works.

The art collection's influence extends to the executive suites. Swedbank CEO Olavi Lepa's office appears understated at first glance-a desk, chair, sofa-but the walls tell a different story. Through the left window opens a view of Tallinn and the distant Baltic Sea, while straight ahead hangs a work by Peeter Mudist, and behind the desk a piece by Mare Vint.

Lapin on the wall, on the wall and on the wall again

One artist whose work stands out is Leonhard Lapin. Art historian Piia Ausman explains that Lapin has applied his artistic touch to, among other things, his sewing-enthusiast mother's sewing pattern sheets. "This is one manifestation of pop art-taking so-called ready-made objects or products and rephrasing them into the artistic world," says Ausman.

The result speaks to employees daily: "Here is Lapin, there is Lapin and on the other side of the wall is yet another Lapin."