Finnish art started to form its individual characteristics in the 19th century, when

romantic nationalism Romantic nationalism (also national romanticism, organic nationalism, identity nationalism) is the form of nationalism in which the state claims its political legitimacy as an organic consequence of the unity of those it governs. This includes ...

began to rise in the autonomous

Grand Duchy of Finland The Grand Duchy of Finland ( fi, Suomen suuriruhtinaskunta; sv, Storfurstendömet Finland; russian: Великое княжество Финляндское, , all of which literally translate as Grand Principality of Finland) was the predecessor ...

Prehistoric art

Marks of human activity in Finland has found in Susiluola,

Kristinestad Kristinestad (, Sweden ; fi, Kristiinankaupunki ; la, Christinea) is a town and a municipality in Finland. It is located in the western part of Finland on the shore of the Bothnian Sea. The population of Kristinestad is () and the municipality ...

. Some excavation has been considered as a man-made over 100,000 years ago. After the Ice Age, area of Finland was resettled at around 9,000 years ago and first known sculpture

Elk's Head of Huittinen Elk's Head of Huittinen ( fi, Huittisten hirvenpää, also known as Moose's Head) is a Mesolithic moose head figurine of soapstone found in 1903 from Huittinen in the province of Satakunta, Finland. The sculpture is dated to between 8,000 and 9,000 ...

(picture in stamp) has been dated about 5–7000 BCE.

Architecture

The most important products of medieval architecture in Finland are the medieval stone churches. More than a hundred of them were built during 15th and 16th centuries.

Neoclassical architecture Neoclassical architecture is an architectural style produced by the Neoclassical movement that began in the mid-18th century in Italy and France. It became one of the most prominent architectural styles in the Western world. The prevailing style ...

arrived in late 18th century, but important building projects started after 1808 when Finland was an autonomic part of Russia.

Alexander II of Russia Alexander II ( rus, Алекса́ндр II Никола́евич, Aleksándr II Nikoláyevich, p=ɐlʲɪˈksandr ftɐˈroj nʲɪkɐˈlajɪvʲɪtɕ; 29 April 181813 March 1881) was Emperor of Russia, Congress Poland, King of Poland and Gra ...

commissioned

Carl Ludvig Engel Carl Ludvig Engel, or Johann Carl Ludwig Engel (3 July 1778 – 14 May 1840), was a German architect whose most noted work can be found in Helsinki, which he helped rebuild. His works include most of the buildings around the capital's monumental ...

to plan the new Senate and University for Helsinki.

Academic visual arts

Robert Wilhelm Ekman - Väinämöinen’s Play

Albert Edelfelt - Women outside the Church at Ruokolahti - Google Art Project

The Finnish academic drawing tradition began at

Royal Academy of Turku The Royal Academy of Turku or the Royal Academy of Åbo ( sv, Kungliga Akademin i Åbo or ; la, Regia Academia Aboensis; fi, Turun akatemia) was the first university in Finland, and the only Finnish university that was founded when the country ...

in 1707 when first instructions of drawing was given. In 1824 The School moves with the University to

Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the Capital city, capital, primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Finland, most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of U ...

and first Finland’s art exhibition was organised at the Drawing School in the autumn of 1845. Painting was rising in Golden era of Finnish art in 1880s, when

was the spirit of art.

Akseli Gallen-Kallela Akseli Gallen-Kallela (26 April 1865 – 7 March 1931) was a Finnish painter who is best known for his illustrations of the ''Kalevala'', the Finnish national epic. His work is considered a very important aspect of the Finnish national ident ...

started in naturalism but moved to national romanticism. In 1950s the Finnish artists looked for foreign influence: first in Paris, then in United States but also in Stockholm, where modern art exhibitions were organized in Moderna museet. Abstract art made its breakthrough first in

concrete art Concrete art was an art movement with a strong emphasis on geometrical abstraction. The term was first formulated by Theo van Doesburg and was then used by him in 1930 to define the difference between his vision of art and that of other abstract art ...

. Early concretists included

Birger Carlstedt John Birger Jarl Carlstedt (12 July 1907 in Helsinki – 3 October 1975 in Helsinki) was a Finnish painter and a pioneer of Modern Art in Finland. His painting style went through various changes, with influences from Impressionism, Expressionism ...

and

Sam Vanni Sam Vanni (till 1941 Samuel Besprosvanni; 6 July 1908 – 20 October 1992) was a Finnish painter. He is considered to be the pioneer of abstract art in Finland.

Informalism Informalism or Art Informel is a Painting, pictorial movement from the 1943–1950s, that includes all the Abstract painting, abstract and Action painting, gestural tendencies that developed in France and the rest of Europe during the World War ...

spread quickly in 1950s and 1960s, when it was considered a new approach to

landscape painting Landscape painting, also known as landscape art, is the depiction of natural scenery such as mountains, valleys, trees, rivers, and forests, especially where the main subject is a wide view—with its elements arranged into a coherent compos ...

. It was also building on strong tradition of expressionism. It spread even outside of large cities. The Finnish contemporary art scene became much more visible than before with the establishment of

Kiasma ) , established = (Museum of Contemporary Art) (opening of Kiasma building) , dissolved = , location = Helsinki, Finland , type = Art museum , accreditation = , key_holdings = , co ...

, the Museum of Contemporary Art in Helsinki in 1998.

References

External links

The Golden Age of Finnish Art
Elina Ojala, University of Tampere. {{Art of Europe Finnish culture

Prehistoric art

Architecture

Academic visual arts

See also

References

External links