Eero Järnefelt

Järnefelt, who sought to portray the true, the typical and the essential, is known particularly for his depictions of landscapes, clouds and nature, paintings of the area around Koli, and portraits of prominent figures of his time. When Finland gained its independence, Järnefelt more or less became the official portrait painter of Finland.

All of the above subjects are widely represented in the Ateneum exhibition, as are the Järnefelt family and their close relatives, who had a huge influence on the art and culture of Finland at the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century. Järnefelt’s brothers – the critic Kasper, the writer Arvid, and the musician Armas – and his sister Aino, who later became Jean Sibelius’s wife, are remembered not only for their contributions to visual arts, literature and music, but also as part of a wider network of active cultural figures.

His father, Alexander Järnefelt, made the Fennomans’ battle for the Finnish language his life’s work, and his mother, Elisabeth Järnefelt, is especially remembered for her literary salon, the most famous participant of which was the writer Juhani Aho.

Most of the works in the exhibition come from the collection of the Finnish National Gallery, but there is also an exceptionally large number of works on loan from private collections. The curator of the exhibition is the chief curator of collections at the Ateneum, Timo Huusko.