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Phone: +358-(0)9-173-36401
Working Hours: Tuesday, Friday - from 9.00 to 18.00, Wednesday, Thursday – from 9.00 to 20.00, Saturday, Sunday – from 11.00 to 17.00
The Atheneum Art Museum celebrated its inaugural opening on November 18th, 1887. The new art forum was a momentous achievement for the Finnish cultural establishment, albeit that its inception was the subject of heated controversy and debate. The project was conceived by Professor Carl Gustaf Estlander, who envisaged a "house of the arts" in which art and crafts would flourish under the same roof in a creative alliance - an idea greeted none too enthusiastically by Finland's artists. Few in number though they were, they felt reluctant to relegate "real art" to the same status as commonplace applied arts, particularly as the Finnish
Art Society (founded 1846) had already instigated the practice of organizing art exhibitions.
Today the Ateneum Art Museum houses the country's largest art collection featuring Finnish art from the 1750s to the 1960s and western art from the latter half of the 1800s to the 1950s, including many national treasures. Here one will find Finland's golden age and modern masters, from Albert Edelfelt to Akseli Gallen-Kallela and Helene Schjerfbeck. The museum complex includes the Ateneum Hall and hosts a range of events and activities. The Ateneum is part of the Finnish National Gallery.
