Nordea Art Foundation Tour

Masters of contrasts on tour: Särestöniemi and Schjerfbeck – art that broke boundaries

Art is not only about beauty – it is also about rebellion, resilience and the search for identity. Reidar Särestöniemi and Helene Schjerfbeck are two icons of northern art, whose works were created under social pressure and personal struggle. Their stories speak of the courage to be oneself at a time when that was far from easy.

The Nordea Art Foundation’s tour offers you an excellent opportunity to enjoy the unique works of Särestöniemi and Schjerfbeck in six Finnish cities.

The art tour begins in Oulu from 14 to 29 April. Oulu is this year’s European Capital of Culture, and Nordea’s Oulu branch will host a display of Reidar Särestöniemi’s powerful, vibrant works.

After Oulu, the tour will move on to other Finnish cities with five works of Helene Schjerfbeck exhibited at regional art museums. One of the paintings, Silence (1907), will join the tour directly from its previous exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.

Survey: Few people have seen the treasures of corporate art collections – half don’t even know they exist

A significant share of Finland’s artistic and cultural heritage is held in corporate collections, yet only a small number of Finns have the chance to experience it, shows a survey commissioned by the Nordea Art Foundation. Companies value their art collections and recognise their role as custodians of cultural heritage, but the decline in physical business locations has reduced opportunities to present art to the general public.

Särestöniemi x Nordea Art Foundation Finland – highlights of the collection in Oulu

This exhibition presents three works from the Nordea Art Foundation’s collection by Reidar Särestöniemi (1925–1981), one of the most distinctive northern masters of Finnish art.

The three works offer perspectives on different phases of Reidar Särestöniemi’s artistic career. On display are Two Seals (1973), depicting Särestöniemi’s romantic relationship, Landscape from Lapland (1969) from his golden period and the delicate Heart of Winter (1980).

Nordea Oulu Office

Date:
14th of April to 29th of April, 2026

Time:
10-16.30 (Mon-Fri)

Location:
Kirkkokatu 6, 90100 Oulu

Branch locator

Tour plan

Dates	Location	Artist
14.–29.4.2026	Nordea Oulu Office The exhibition included three works by Reidar Särestöniemi from different stages of his career, as well as two photographs by photographer Matti Saanio	Reidar Särestöniemi
19.5.–14.6.2026	Tampere Art Museum Collection of five Helene Schjerfbeck's artworks of the Nordea Art Foundation Finland	Helene Schjerfbeck
25.9.–8.11.2026	Jyväskylä Art Museum Collection of five Helene Schjerfbeck's artworks of the Nordea Art Foundation Finland	Helene Schjerfbeck
13.11.2026– 3.1.2027	Kuopio Art Museum KUMMA Collection of five Helene Schjerfbeck's artworks of the Nordea Art Foundation Finland	Helene Schjerfbeck
5.2.–4.4.2027	Kuopio Art Museum KUMMA Collection of five Helene Schjerfbeck's artworks of the Nordea Art Foundation Finland	Helene Schjerfbeck
20.4.–6.6.2027	Lahti Art Museum Malva Collection of five Helene Schjerfbeck's artworks of the Nordea Art Foundation Finland	Helene Schjerfbeck

Reidar Särestöniemi

Reidar Särestöniemi (1925–1981)

A significant Finnish modern painter, best known for his intensely colourful expression inspired by the landscapes of Lapland. In his works, northern nature is not merely a visible landscape but also an emotional and mental state in which fells, rivers and light carry symbolic meanings.

Särestöniemi’s life was marked by a deep but unfulfilled love, and this personal experience appears in many of his works as longing, inner tension and sensitivity, where the vastness of nature reflects the artist’s own inner world.

Helene Schjerfbeck

Helene Schjerfbeck (1862–1946)

A central reformer of Finnish modern art, whose mode of expression became increasingly reduced and precise over the course of her career. In her works, self-portraits, figures and still lifes do not aim at external depiction but focus instead on experience, time and human vulnerability.

Schjerfbeck lived much of her life outside the centre of the art world, and this withdrawal, together with the illnesses and losses she experienced, is reflected in her art as a quiet intensity in which restrained form and subdued colour carry a strong emotional charge.

Nordea Art Foundation Finland

Nordea Art Foundation Finland is a non-profit organization that supports research and preservation of Finnish art, art history, and the history of commercial banking.

The Nordea Art Foundation’s collection is the result of more than a century of art acquisitions by Nordea and its predecessor banks. Today, the Nordea Art Foundation continues this work, recognising art and banking history not just as cultural heritage but as a meaningful part of cultural education, reflection and corporate social responsibility.

Contact

Phone number: +358 414377566

Email: anu.kehusmaa @ consult.nordea.com

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