Ateneum

Since childhood one of my favorite museums in Helsinki. Good collection of traditional Finnish artists, changing main gallery items and beautiful architecture.

My absolute favorite museum in all of Helsinki. Well worth the price of the ticket if you take your time moving through the exhibits and have at least a small interest in Finland and its history. In my opinion, the Gallen-​Kallela collection is the star of this small art museum and evokes some very deep emotions. They also seem to have a knack for selecting interesting topics for their rotating exhibits. I would try to go mid-​week around early afternoon when it’s quietest. A must-​see for art-​lovers and Fennophiles in Helsinki.

When I visited, there was a tribute to a Finnish artist. Apparently, this woman was amazing! I liked this museum because the walls where the art was displayed were not ornate and distracting. I went during the middle of the work week and it wasn’t too overcrowded. It is across from the train station and a very nice looking building from the outside. Entrance fee was included in the Helsinki card.

A nice enough art museum. We saw an exhibition of Scandinavian art and quite enjoyed it. The museum is quite easy to navigate and has a certain charm to it. Located basically across from the main train station, it’s easy to find and there a lots of things in the area to do. You can easily pop in while in town shopping or whatever. Everyone who worked there was also very nice and I’d recommend if in town and into art that you stop in (obviously depending on whether the current exhibition running interests you.)

The largest art gallery we found in Helsinki; you could spend hours here. In character it is very typical of any European art gallery, set in a grand building divided into a series of whitewashed rooms, each containing art on a particular theme. This gallery is a mixture of temporary and permanent exhibitions.
The major temporary exhibition we went was on pre-​20^th century Japanese art. The temporary exhibition space is huge, so you get practically a whole floor full of whichever temporary exhibition is in town. The museum seemed to have gone to town on it, and arranged temporary walls and displays to suit that exhibition. Full marks for effort.
On the upper floors is a selection of the more traditional art. The emphasis is on Finnish art and artists, which is good as it gives the whole gallery a unified theme and character. The selections are from various centuries and there is a good mix of traditional and modern painting, sculpture, graphic design, film and photography. There are also some non-​Finnish guest exhibitions upstairs as well.

Das Ateneum Helsinki beherbergt «moderne Kunst» des 20. Jahrhunderts. Es sind vorwiegend Gemälde finnischer und skandinavischer Maler des Zeitalters 1920 – 1960 ausgestellt und sehr gut präsentiert.
Nicht nur an einem Regentag einen Besuch wert!