information from the National Nordic Museum

The National Nordic Museum presents the only North American showing of Among Forests and Lakes: Landscape Masterpieces from the Finnish National Gallery (May 6 – October 17, 2021). This major exhibition fills the Museum's Barbro Osher Gallery and offers the rare opportunity to see works created by Finland’s best-known artists from the collection of the country’s largest art museum. Among the accomplished women and men represented are artists Fanny Churberg, Albert Edelfelt, Akseli Gallen-Kallela, Marja Helander, Eero Järnefelt, and Hugo Simberg.
 
“We are thrilled to host this landmark exhibition at the Museum,” said Executive Director/CEO Eric Nelson. “Our visitors will experience the power of these important works and understand the role that visual artists played in shaping Finnish identity.”
 
Drawn from the Ateneum Art Museum, one of three museums that form the Finnish National Gallery, paintings and prints in Among Forests and Lakes: Landscape Masterpieces from the Finnish National Gallery demonstrate how Finnish artists have contributed to the formation of nation and national identity. The exhibition traces this story from the first Finnish practitioners of the genre in the mid-19th century through the present day. Over 50 selected scenes cover more than 150 years and 800 miles, with artworks capturing the splendor and grandeur of Finland from the coast and archipelago in the south to Sápmi and the Arctic Ocean in the north. An important loan of video art from the Museum of Contemporary Art Kiasma (also part of the Finnish National Gallery) strengthens the exhibition with the work of Sámi director, photographer, and video artist Marja Helander, who explores Finnish and Sámi culture through film.
 
“This exhibition will be a revelation to American audiences. It includes paintings that seldom travel to the continent, as well as those oft-requested pieces illustrating the most consequential moments in Finnish art. Symbolist Hugo Simberg’s Spring Evening, Ice Break (1897) is one of those canonical landscapes; its last visit to North America was 14 years ago,” said Leslie Anderson, Director of Collections, Exhibitions, and Programs.
 
To complement the exhibition, the National Nordic Museum has planned a dynamic slate of virtual lectures and art-making experiences. Exhibition curators Dr. Hanne Selkokari and Anu Utriainen of the Ateneum Art Museum share the research and vision behind the exhibition on May 8. Dr. Janne Sirén, Peggy Pierce Elfvin Director of the Albright-Knox Art Gallery, talks about Akseli Gallen-Kallela’s landscape paintings on June 6, and Dr. Michelle Facos, Professor of Art History at Indiana University, discusses Nordic women artists on August 14. Throughout the summer, landscape painting classes and a teen program with the Pratt Fine Arts Center will encourage audiences of all ages to create work inspired by Finnish landscape artists. 
 
Among Forests and Lakes: Landscape Masterpieces from the Finnish National Gallery is organized by the Ateneum Art Museum, Finnish National Gallery, and the National Nordic Museum. This exhibition is curated by Selkokari, the Finnish National Gallery’s Curator, and Senior Researcher Anu Utriainen. The presentation at the National Nordic Museum is coordinated by Leslie Anderson, Director of Collections, Exhibitions, and Programs. Major support for Among Forests and Lakes: Landscape Masterpieces from the Finnish National Gallery is provided by Ann-Charlotte Gavel Adams and The Robert Lehman Foundation.