Symphony of Art and Nature: The Serlachius Collection
For the first time, the Gösta Serlachius Art Foundation collection, one of Finland’s richest collections, will be presented in Estonia. The core of the collection, established by the industrialist Gösta Serlachius, consists of Golden Age of Finnish art, i.e. pieces from the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with a focus on the work of Akseli Gallen-Kallela. The collection also includes works by Old Masters from Western Europe, a historical part of the collection, as well as contemporary (Finnish) art, which is the foundation’s mission today.
Gösta Serlachius (1876–1942) was one of the most influential art patrons in Finland at the time. His personal contacts with artists and the involvement of professionals in the compilation of the collection resulted in an assortment of both masterpieces of Finnish art and more immediate examples of the creative process, such as sketches and drafts. It was the collector’s firm wish that, after his death, the collection would remain in Mänttä and be opened to the public, so that art would also live on in rural areas, outside of Helsinki. Thus, the Serlachius art collection is located in the midst of picturesque Finnish natural landscape, on the shore of a lake and surrounded by forests, halfway between Tampere and Jyväskylä, resonating with the pathos of Finnish art: a special sense of nature that sometimes takes on religious proportions.
The exhibition presenting the Serlachius Collection brings together Finnish art classics, works by the Old Masters of Western Europe, and contemporary Finnish art, thus highlighting the common thread running through the art collection: artistic mastery. It also provides an opportunity to appreciate both the universal and unique aspects of art. The art forms represented include painting, graphic art, photography and small sculptures. The exhibition features works by Albert Edelfelt, Akseli Gallen-Kallela, Jusepe de Ribera, Anna Retulainen, Helene Schjerfbeck, Hugo Simberg, Anu Tuominen and others.
Curators: Greta Koppel and Tomi Moisio
Graphic design: Tuuli Aule