Notable Collections
From Rome Laurvik went to Venice, where he was greatly helped by the American consul, B. H. Carroll, Jr. Though the International Exhibit held in Venice every two years had closed several months before, many of the works of art were still there, their owners, either afraid or unable to take them away and yet concerned about their being so close to the scene of war. It was the general concern that enabled Laurvik to secure some of his finest material. Together with the Italian work, he arranged to have shipped here on the Jason, Norwegian and Hungarian paintings and fifty canvases by the man regarded as the greatest living painter in Finland, Axel Gallen-Kallela. He also made a short journey from Venice to the home of Marinetti, the journalist, poet and leader of the. Italian Futurist painters, who, after much persuading, promised to send fifty examples of the work done by the ten leaders in his group.
On leaving Venice Laurvik started for Vienna. In spite of the war, he was promised support by the Minister of Art. Unfortunately, the art societies fell to quarreling, and gave little or no help. Then Laurvik appealed to the artists themselves. In Kakosha, one of the best known among the Austrian painters, he found an ally. The collection he made in Vienna included several of Kakosha’s canvases, lent by their owners, and a large number of etchings.