Berndt Lindholm – Into the Landscape

During the autumn, the art history exhibition in the Tikanoja Art Museum will present older paintings by Berndt Lindholm (1841–1914), one of Finland’s most prominent 19th-century landscape painters. The exhibition will display depictions of forests and rocky coastal landscapes. Both critics and the public appreciated the well-known artist already during his lifetime. Among the qualities of his paintings, the atmosphere and naturalness were appreciated. The exhibition extends on all three floors of the Tikanoja Art Museum and contains approximately 60 paintings and drawings. The exhibition also includes loans from the Gothenburg Museum of Art, which have rarely been shown in Finland.  

Lindholm studied art in Düsseldorf and Karlsruhe. He also lived for a while in Paris, where he was fond of plein air painting and the early expression of the Barbizon school. He participated several times in Salon exhibitions in Paris. In 1876, Lindholm moved to Sweden and settled in Gothenburg, where he painted mostly beach and forest landscapes of the Swedish west coast. Lindholm worked as the curator of the Gothenburg Museum and taught at the drawing school at the same time. In addition, he also served as curator and secretary at the Gothenburg Art Association. Lindholm maintained regular contact with the Finnish art scene and his works were displayed in exhibitions in Finland as well.  

The exhibition has been done in cooperation with the Hämeenlinna Art Museum, where it will be on display during the summer of 2023. It is based on FT Teppo Jokinen’s research on the life, art and artistic production of Berndt Lindholm. In Vaasa, the working group includes researcher Teppo Jokinen, Hämeenlinnna Art Museum’s curator Tanja Pääskynen and Vaasa City Museums’ curator Janna Sirén. 

Berndt Lindholm. Novemberafton vid Hisingsvassen, 1876. Oil on canvas. Photo: Hossein Sehatlou, Göteborgs konstmuseum.