Eero Järnefelt

An exhibition spanning the entire career of the master nature and portrait painter Eero Järnefelt (1863-1937) will be on view at Tikanoja Art Museum from 23.11.2024 to 25.5.2025.

Eero Järnefelt’s exhibition is a broad overview of the life and work of a man who grew in a cultured, cosmopolitan family. It explores the artist’s significance for Finnish art and Finnishness as a versatile portrayer of nature and the Koli landscape – and provides an opportunity to reflect on the contemporary human relationship with nature.

Eero Järnefelt is one of Finland’s best-known artists. His paintings strongly reflect his interest in Finnish nature and folk life. He is especially remembered for his Koli landscapes and the painting Under the Yoke (Burning the Brushwood). Järnefelt’s art stems from his family’s fascinating cultural background and is characterised by the pursuit of essential features in nature and people. He was able to describe his subjects with detailed precision, sensitive atmosphere and solemn monumentality. This exhibition at the Tikanoja Art Museum sheds light on various aspects of Järnefelt’s conception of landscape and people. 

The exhibition, which is divided into different themes, also sheds light on Järnefelt’s family, his study trips, domestic conditions and how his art was linked to Finnish thought of his time. Järnefelt is connected to Vaasa in that his father Alexander served as the governor of Vaasa Province from 1888 to 1894. Alexander lived on Rantakatu, and the family rented the Tottesund Mansion in Maxmo (Maksamaa) for the summers of 1891-92. Eero Järnefelt’s sister Aino married Jean Sibelius there. 

The exhibition is curated by Ateneum Art Museum’s Chief Curator Timo Huusko and the exhibition at Tikanoja Art Museum is produced by Ateneum Art Museum / Finnish National Gallery in cooperation with Vaasa Museums. 

The exhibition includes delicate works on paper. To preserve the works, one room is dimly lighted.