History
The story of the Finnish National Gallery began when the Finnish Art Society was established in Helsinki in 1846. The idea of a Finnish art society was already introduced in 1834. The first annual meeting of the Finnish Art Society was held on January 27, 1846.
The objective of the Finnish Art Society was to create a foundation for the Finnish art scene, as there were no art museums or formal art education in Finland at the time.
The Art Society was responsible for art education, commencing collection activities, and establishing the first art museum in Finland. It cultivated art education by maintaining drawing schools.
The first one, Helsinki Drawing School, was established in 1848. The Turku Drawing School was moved under the Art Society’s administration in 1852. The Art Society supported Finnish artists through grants, such as the Ducat Award which has been awarded to new emerging artists and art students since 1857.
First art exhibition 1847
The Art Society started exhibition activities in the spring of 1847 by staging its first art exhibition in Helsinki. After this, it organised annual exhibitions that showcased the works of various artists. These exhibitions were open for the public.
Once the Art Society had established exhibition and education activities, it started art collection accrual.
The foundation of the collection was formed by the art collection of Baron Otto Wilhelm Klinckowström that was acquired by Tsar Alexander II of Russia. The Tsar donated the collection to the Finnish Art Society in 1851 on behalf of Alexander III. The donation consisted of 28 pieces of art of which the most significant one was Portrait of a Young Woman (1525) by Lucas Cranach the Elder. These works formed the core of the Finnish national art gallery.
First major donation in 1878
The Finnish Art Society received a number of notable collection donations and deposits. The first major donation was the assets bequeathed and donated by Viktor Hoving in 1876.
In 1893, the Art Society received the Herman Frithiof Antell art collection and fund, and the collection was further augmented through Hjalmar Linder’s collection donation in 1920 and Paul and Fanny Sinebrychoff’s donation in 1921. These collections form the basis of the Sinebrychoff Art Museum.
The Finnish Art Society operated from various leased premises across Helsinki before its move to the Ateneum building.
The Ateneum building, designed by Architect Theodor Höijer (1843–1910), was completed in spring 1887. The inauguration ceremony was held on November 18, 1887. As well as the Finnish Art Society and its art collections the building also housed the Drawing School (today known as the Finnish Academy of Fine Arts), the Finnish Association of Applied Arts and its collections (today known as the Design Museum) and the School of Arts and Crafts (today known as the Aalto University, School of Art and Design).
The Finnish Art Society was responsible for Finland’s museum activities and fine art education for almost a hundred years, until a trust was established for its museum and educational operations in 1939.
The collections of the Ateneum Art Museum were augmented through charitable donations and acquisitions for almost 150 years, and, by the time the museum was nationalised, it had a collection of approximately 20,000 artefacts.
The space problems of the Ateneum building were yet to be solved. Once renovation and restoration work on the Sinebrychoff museum building had been completed, the museum was reopened on August 28, 1980 as a museum for old international art.
The Ateneum art collections were opened to the public on February 27, 1985 in temporary premises at Kansakoulukatu 3 in Helsinki city centre.
The Ateneum Art Museum was closed to the public on October 1, 1990, and resources were targeted at launching the Finnish National Gallery and eventual return to the Ateneum building.
The Finnish National Gallery became a government-run museum on September 1, 1990. It was the last national museum in the Nordic countries to be funded by a central government.