The Sinebrychoff Art Museum is an

art museum An art museum or art gallery is a building or space for the display of art, usually from the museum's own collection. It might be in public or private ownership and may be accessible to all or have restrictions in place. Although primarily co ...

located on Bulevardi in

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 ...

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bot ...

. The museum exhibits the old

European art The art of Europe, or Western art, encompasses the history of visual art in Europe. European prehistoric art started as mobile Upper Paleolithic rock and cave painting and petroglyph art and was characteristic of the period between the Paleo ...

collections (dating between the 14th and 19th centuries) of the

Finnish National Gallery Finnish National Gallery ( fi, Suomen Kansallisgalleria, sv, Finlands Nationalgalleri) is the largest art museum institution of Finland. It consists of the Ateneum, an art museum; Kiasma, a contemporary art museum; and the Sinebrychoff Art Muse ...

. In addition, half of the museum acts as a

historic house museum A historic house museum is a house of historic significance that has been transformed into a museum. Historic furnishings may be displayed in a way that reflects their original placement and usage in a home. Historic house museums are held to a ...

, displaying the 19th century estate of the Sinebrychoff family.

History

The building housing the museum was constructed in 1842 by the

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-ei ...

n businessman Nikolai Sinebryukhov, whose

brewery A brewery or brewing company is a business that makes and sells beer. The place at which beer is commercially made is either called a brewery or a beerhouse, where distinct sets of brewing equipment are called plant. The commercial brewing of bee ...

, Sinebrychoff, operated in the western side of the premises until 1992. Nikolai himself did not live in the house, staying instead in

Suomenlinna Suomenlinna (; until 1918 Viapori, ), or Sveaborg (), is an inhabited sea fortress the Suomenlinna district is on eight islands of which six have been fortified; it is about 4 km southeast of the city center of Helsinki, the capital of Finl ...

. His brother's family lived in the house, and his nephew, Paul, began an art collection. Paul continued to collect European art after being appointed head of the company in 1904. Along with his

actress An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (), li ...

wife, Fanny Sinebrychoff, he amassed a collection of about 900 items, mostly paintings (100 by the

Old Master In art history, "Old Master" (or "old master")Old Masters De ...

s and approximately 350

portrait miniature A portrait miniature is a miniature portrait painting, usually executed in gouache, watercolor, or enamel. Portrait miniatures developed out of the techniques of the miniatures in illuminated manuscripts, and were popular among 16th-century eli ...

s), but also including

antique furniture A piece of antique furniture is a collectible interior furnishing of considerable age. Often the age, rarity, condition, utility, or other unique features make a piece of furniture desirable as a collectors' item, and thus termed an antique. ...

silverware Silverware may refer to: * Household silver including **Tableware **Cutlery **Candlesticks *The work of a silversmith * Silverware is also a slang term for a collection of trophies A trophy is a tangible, durable reminder of a specific achievem ...

, and

porcelain Porcelain () is a ceramic material made by heating substances, generally including materials such as kaolinite, in a kiln to temperatures between . The strength and translucence of porcelain, relative to other types of pottery, arises main ...

. In 1921, Paul and Fanny Sinebrychoff donated their collection to the

Finnish government sv, Finlands statsråd , border = , image = File:Finnish Government logo.png , image_size = 250 , caption = , date = , state = Republic of Finland , polity = , coun ...

. It continues to be the largest art donation ever made in Finland. This was the same year that the house opened up as a

, showcasing 19th century upper class life. The donated art collection was not kept in the house, though it was returned in 1959 with funding from the Sinebrychoff company. In 1975, the Finnish government bought the entire building from the brewery, and, after restoration, opened the building as a museum in 1980. Collections featuring old European art were moved from

Ateneum Ateneum is an art museum in Helsinki, Finland and one of the three museums forming the Finnish National Gallery. It is located in the centre of Helsinki on the south side of Rautatientori square close to Helsinki Central railway station. It ha ...

to the Sinebrychoff Art Museum. In 1990, the Sinebrychoff Art Museum was incorporated into the ''Valtion taidemuseo'' (National Art Museum). Following its disbandment in 2013, the Sinebrychoff Art Museum was incorporated into the newly formed

, in which it is one of three museums, the others being

and

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

Collections

The collections of the Sinebrychoff Art Museum are composed primarily of old European paintings, primarily by the

Old Master In art history, "Old Master" (or "old master")Old Masters De ...

s. The museum's paintings are divided among 10 collections, including The "Paul and Fanny Sinebrychoff Collection", the "Collection of the Friends of the Ateneum Art Museum", and the "

Carl von Haartman Carl may refer to: *Carl, Georgia, city in USA *Carl, West Virginia, an unincorporated community *Carl (name), includes info about the name, variations of the name, and a list of people with the name *Carl², a TV series * "Carl", an episode of tel ...

Collection". In addition to paintings, the museum also hosts about 4,000 prints and drawings. Other items in the museum include

glassware upTypical drinkware The list of glassware includes drinking vessels (drinkware) and tableware used to set a table for eating a meal, general glass items such as vases, and glasses used in the catering industry. It does not include laboratory glas ...

, and

, as well as some

sculpture Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable ...

clock A clock or a timepiece is a device used to measure and indicate time. The clock is one of the oldest human inventions, meeting the need to measure intervals of time shorter than the natural units such as the day, the lunar month and ...

s, and

References

External links

Sinebrychoff Art Museum website

Finnish National Gallery website
{{Helsinki Cityscape Museums in Helsinki Art museums and galleries in Finland Historic house museums in Finland

History

Collections

See also

References

External links