Photograph of the Finnish pavilion at Exposition Universelle (1900)

Akseli Gallen-Kallela - Problem (Symposium)

The Golden Age of Finnish Art coincided with the national awakening of Finland, during the era of the

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 predecess ...

under the Russian Empire. It is believed to span an era from the late 19th Century to the early 20th Century, approximately 1880 to 1910. The epic poetry form known as Kalevala, developed during the 19th Century, provided the artistic inspiration for numerous themes at the time, including in

visual arts The visual arts are art forms such as painting, drawing, printmaking, sculpture, ceramics, photography, video, filmmaking, design, crafts and architecture. Many artistic disciplines such as performing arts, conceptual art, and textile arts a ...

, literature, music and

architecture Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and constructing buildings ...

; however, the "Golden Age of Finnish Art" is generally regarded as referring to the realist and

romantic nationalist 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 ...

painters of the time. Notable figures of the time include

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 ...

Pekka Halonen Pekka Halonen (23 September 1865 – 1 December 1933) was a painter of Finnish landscapes and people in the national romantic style. His favorite subjects were the Finnish landscape and its people which he depicted in his Realist style.Aimo Reit ...

Albert Edelfelt Albert Gustaf Aristides Edelfelt (21 July 1854 – 18 August 1905) was a Finnish-Swedish painter noted for his naturalistic style and Realist approach to art. He lived in the Grand Duchy of Finland and made Finnish culture visible abroad, before ...

, Jean Sibelius,

Eino Leino Eino Leino (born Armas Einar Leopold Lönnbohm; 6 July 1878 – 10 January 1926) was a Finnish poet and journalist who is considered one of the pioneers of Finnish poetry and a national poet of Finland. His poems combine modern and Finnish fo ...

Helene Schjerfbeck Helena Sofia (Helene) Schjerfbeck (; July 10, 1862 – January 23, 1946) was a Finnish painter. A modernist painter, she is known for her realist works and self-portraits, and also for her landscapes and still lifes. Throughout her long life, h ...

Emil Wikström Emil Wikström (13 April 1864 in Turku – 26 September 1942 Helsinki) was a Finnish sculptor. Among his best known works are the '' Lyhdynkantajat'' ("Lantern Carriers") sculptures on the front of the Helsinki Central railway station and the ...

, Eero Järnefelt and

Eliel Saarinen Gottlieb Eliel Saarinen (, ; August 20, 1873 – July 1, 1950) was a Finnish-American architect known for his work with art nouveau buildings in the early years of the 20th century. He was also the father of famed architect Eero Saarinen. Lif ...

. Finnish art became more widely known in Europe at the Paris Exposition of 1900, where the Finnish pavilion was one of the most popular among the attendees.

Artists

There were a number of notable visual artists who are considered to have been part of the Golden Age of Finnish Art.

Painters

Helena Westermarck - Ironesses; An Important Question

The following list of painters does not include artists who are sometimes considered to be part of the Golden Age but generally largely predate it; several notable painters, such as Werner Holmberg, exist in this category.

Ferdinand von Wright Ferdinand von Wright (19 March 1822, Haminalahti, near Kuopio - 31 July 1906, Kuopio) was a Finnish painter (belonging to Swedish-speaking population of Finland) - He is best known for his landscapes and animal paintings, especially his detailed d ...

, the notable Finnish artist whose 1886 ''The Fighting Capercaillies'' is considered a seminal Finnish painting, is also regarded as predating the Golden Age. The numerous painters of the

Düsseldorf school of painting The Düsseldorf school of painting is a term referring to a group of painters who taught or studied at the Düsseldorf Academy (now the Staatliche Kunstakademie Düsseldorf or Düsseldorf State Art Academy) during the 1830s and 1840s, when the A ...

, such as Berndt Lindholm, Hjalmar Munsterhjelm and

Fanny Churberg Fanny Churberg (12 December 1845, in Vaasa – 10 May 1892, in Helsinki) was a Finnish landscape painter. Biography Her father, Matias Churberg, was a doctor from a family of farmers and her mother Maria was the daughter of the vicar in Liperi pa ...

, may be regarded as Golden Age painters; however, their work is generally associated with an earlier era of artistic development. Adolf von Becker, however, is regarded as a significant figure to the Golden Age, resulting from his education and tutelage of numerous artists of the era; in addition, Robert Wilhelm Ekman, as an early and notable painter of Kalevala, laid the foundation for similar following works.