Johannes Mikkel (1907–2006) was one of the most prominent art collectors in Estonia. His collection of more than 600 items of older Western European paintings and prints, as well as European, Russian, Chinese and Japanese ceramics was put together in Estonia during the time of the Soviet occupation when prevalent ideology valued the formation of a new society on the ashes of the old one, and when collectiveness was favoured over private property. Taking the above into account, we can say that both Mikkel himself as well as his passion for collecting things were exceptional; he was not guided by specific preferences as to schools or genres, but gathered everything old, valuable and beautiful. Johannes Mikkel’s life and art collection exemplify wonderfully the escapist resistance to the realities of the Soviet society. Living in a four-room apartment of a typical Soviet block of flats, he covered his walls with gold-framed paintings, hung huge crystal chandeliers from the ceiling, and displayed Meissen porcelain on his chest of drawers.
Each work of art in his collection occupies a significant place in the European cultural history, be it a painting or a print by the great historic masters, such as Dürer, Titian, Rubens or Velázquez. Or we could take the samples of porcelain art that capture the lifestyle of the European nobility: the blue-and-white Ming dynasty porcelain from China, which took over Europe in the 17th century, or the ceramics from Meissen porcelain manufacture, which became the example and status symbol in the 18th century. Besides the authors and producers of the works of art, Mikkel paid attention to the legends linking his collectibles to noteworthy historical persons and events. Thus, the collection apparently includes Voltaire’s present to Catherine the Great, a coffee pot that belonged to the set of the family of Napoleon I, part of Alexander I’s dinner set, a large folder of prints and official furniture of President Konstantin Päts, as well as various items brought by the White Guard from Russia during World War I and by the Red Army from Dresden during World War II.
In 1997 Johannes Mikkel donated his collection of art to the Art Museum of Estonia. To exhibit the collection, the former kitchen building of Kadriorg Palace was renovated and adapted to the use of a museum – The Mikkel Museum, that was opened to the public the same year.
Johannes Mikkel’s collection comprises more than 600 items, the biggest share of it prints, then ceramics and paintings. In 2005, the property of Mikkel Museum expanded by Johannes Mikkel’s collection of Estonian art and in 2006 by historic furniture and sculptures.
Ending up in the art museum was a blessing and a curse for Mikkel’s collection. On the one hand it guaranteed the continuing existence of his collection as a whole, which, against the discontinuous historical background of Estonia, is of great value; on the other hand, after the items had been systematised, inspected and selectively displayed, the private collection had lost its original context and meaning. Even when it turned out that several of Johannes Mikkel’s favourites – Western European paintings – had not been painted by the famous authors they had been ascribed to and when the china appeared to be mostly recent copies or imitations, it does not decrease the cultural historical value of the collection as a whole. The importance of Johannes Mikkel’s art collection does not lie in its art historical value, even though it does contain some notable high-quality works, but rather in the context surrounding the collection.