Sara Hildén Art Museum's summer exhibition explores phenomena in Finnish visual art

From the Beginning exhibition opens up perspectives on the changes in Finnish visual art and the diversification of means of representation. The exhibition explores, among other things, the following phenomena in visual art: geometric abstraction, which became a major trend in the 1950s; free-form informalism and its depictions of the natural world in the early 1960s; and the realistic trends of the 1960s and 1970s, which also included polemical art.

The exhibition approaches the art of the 21st century thematically. There is a group of works on nature and the environment, a series of themes that introduce the finiteness of life and its darker shades, and a group of paintings and sculptures on the theme of translucency. The exhibition also includes works recently acquired for the collection.

The exhibition includes some of the most iconic works of Finnish art, such as Tyko Sallinen's witty folk portrait Hihhulit (1918), Helene Schjerfbeck's late delicate Portrait in a Dress  (1938) and Kimmo Kaivanto's renowned landmark When the Sea Dies II (1973). 

"When a sufficiently interesting and, above all, high-quality work came into view, Sara Hildén was prepared to make very quick and also courageous decisions. Among other things, she acquired an important body of polemical art from the 1960s and 1970s. She was also not averse to kinetic works or even conceptual art that was considered difficult," says Head of Collection Maria Laine.

In addition to the above, the exhibition includes works by artists such as Martti Aiha, Göran Augustson, Juhana Blomstedt, Kari Cavén, Carolus Enckell, Erik Enroth, Mauri Favén, Susanne Gottberg, Kaisaleena Halinen, Juhani Harri, Mauno Hartman, Jussi Heikkilä, Timo Heino, Reino Hietanen, Kari Jylhä, Kaarina Kaikkonen, Ahti Lavonen, Kauko Lehtinen, Leena Luostarinen, Elina Merenmies, Jukka Mäkelä, Marika Mäkelä, Otto Mäkilä, Paul Osipow, Laila Pullinen, Kimmo Pyykkö, Vesa-Pekka Rannikko, Ulla Rantanen, Essi Renvall, Arvo Siikamäki, Antti Tanttu, Kain Tapper, Toni R. Toivonen, Marianna Uutinen ja Hannu Väisänen.

Sara Hildén (1905–1993) began her art collecting career in Finland. Already in the mid-20th century, she acquired a significant collection of domestic art by collecting a large body of art by her husband Erik Enroth (1917–1975). Later, the collection expanded to include a wide range of works by other domestic artists and foreign art. Today, the Sara Hildén Foundation has a collection of over 6 400 works of art. The collection of domestic art includes nearly 5 500 works by more than 300 artists and is still actively growing.

The exhibition From the Beginning is a continuation of the Sara Hildén Art Museum's Spring 2024 exhibition The Red Birds of the Green Tree, which introduced key works from the foreign collection. The exhibition is complemented by a miniature exhibition of ceramic art by Rut Bryk (1916–1999) at Café Sara.

From the beginning - Works from the Finnish Collection of Sara Hildén Foundation 2.6.–31.8.2025