Finnish National Gallery

The Finnish National Gallery stands in Helsinki’s centre as three separate museums. The Ateneum, a grand 19th-century building, houses Finnish art from the 19th century to the mid-20th century. Kiasma, a sharp-edged glass structure, presents contemporary works in changing exhibitions. The Sinebrychoff Art Museum occupies a historic house on Bulevardi, filled with European masters and Swedish miniatures. Together they form Finland’s largest art institution, managed by a single foundation. The gallery’s roots reach back to 1846 when the Finnish Art Society began collecting art and running drawing schools. Major donations from Victor Hoving, Herman Antell and Karl Emanuel Jannsson in the 1890s built the core collection. In 1921 the Sinebrychoff family gave nearly 900 works, creating the museum that bears their name. After the Winter War closed the Ateneum and Sinebrychoff, they reopened in the 1940s and 1960s. In 1998 Kiasma opened in a purpose-built building, completing the trio now run as a public foundation. Inside the Ateneum visitors find rooms lined with paintings by Albert Edelfelt, Helene Schjerfbeck and Akseli Gallen-Kallela. Kiasma’s light-filled galleries show installations by living artists in rotating displays. The Sinebrychoff house keeps its original interiors alongside works by Rembrandt, Lucas Cranach the Elder and Antoine Watteau. Each museum offers guided tours and study facilities. The buildings sit within walking distance of Helsinki’s main railway station and the Esplanadi park.