Serlachius Museum Art Collection on Display in Tallinn
Text Timo Raussi Photos Kadriorg Art Museum
Hugo Simberg (1873–1917). “Dance on the Jetty”. 1903. Oil. Gösta Serlachius Fine Arts Foundation. Photo: Yehia Eweis
Next week, on Saturday 28 February, the Kadriorg Art Museum in Tallinn will open the exhibition “Symphony of Art and Nature: The Serlachius Collection.” It will bring to audiences in Estonia, for the first time, a distinguished selection of masterpieces by Western European artists and by Finnish Golden Age painters—the iconic works of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. All the pieces to be exhibited come from one of Finland’s wealthiest private collections, assembled by the Gösta Serlachius Fine Arts Foundation, established by the paper and forestry industry magnate Gösta Serlachius.
Alongside works by Finnish classic artists such as Akseli Gallen-Kallela, Helene Schjerfbeck and Albert Edelfelt, the exhibition also showcases Finnish contemporary art, the collection and preservation of which has become one of the foundation’s key missions today. The exhibition has been curated to allow traditional works and contemporary pieces to enter into a kind of dialogue—revealing a shared element within the collection: artistic mastery, evident both in Finland and across Europe.
The exhibition features painting, graphic art, photography, and small-scale sculpture. It has been jointly curated by Greta Koppel, responsible for the Kadriorg Art Museum’s collections, and Tomi Moisio, curator at the Serlachius Museums. On opening day, at 13:00, Moisio will also lead a guided tour in Finnish.
The cooperation between the two museums and this exhibition being brought to Tallinn have been supported by the Finnish Institute in Estonia. “For many art lovers in the Helsinki metropolitan area, a trip to visit the Serlachius exhibition in Tallinn is more convenient, shorter and even more pleasant during the winter travel season than a journey of over 250 kilometres to Mänttä,” says the Institute’s director, Hannele Valkeeniemi.
Gösta Serlachius (1876–1942) was one of the most influential art patrons of his time. His personal contacts with artists and his collaboration with professionals helped shape the collection so that, in addition to Finnish masterpieces, it also contains sketches and studies—insights into the processes behind artistic creation. As a collector, Serlachius’ firm wish was that the collection should remain publicly accessible after his death, and that it should be exhibited not in Helsinki, but in Mänttä, the family’s home town located between Tampere and Jyväskylä.
The exhibition at Kadriorg will be open until 23 August 2026 during regular museum opening hours. Special guided tours in Estonian—held in the quiet evening hours when the museum is otherwise closed—will take place on 12 March, 26 March, and 16 April at 18:00. These small-group tours will be led by Kadriorg Art Museum director and art historian Aleksandra Murre. Tickets for the special evenings can be purchased in advance through the Fienta ticketing service, or, if available, at the museum’s ticket desk one hour before the tour begins.
To learn more about this and similar topicsArt Exhibition Contemporary Art Finnish Art Gallen-Kallela Kadriorg Art Museum Serlachius
